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Long-term Care Risk Misperceptions

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  • M. Martin Boyer
  • Philippe De Donder
  • Claude Denys Fluet
  • Marie-Louise Leroux
  • Pierre-Carl Michaud

Abstract

This paper reports survey evidence on long-term care (LTC) risk misperceptions and demand for long-term care insurance (LTCI) in Canada. LTC risk misperceptions is divided into three different risks: needing help for at least one activity of daily life, needing access to a nursing home, and living to be 85 years old. We contrast subjective (i.e. stated) probabilities with actual probabilities for these three dimensions. We first provide descriptive statistics of how objective and subjective probabilities differ and correlate to each other. Second, we study cross-correlations between different types of risks. We then study how risk misperceptions correlate with individual characteristics, and evaluate how misperceptions affect intentions and actual purchase of LTCI. Our conclusions are two-fold. First, we find that most subjects are not well informed about their individual LTC risks, making it difficult for them to take the correct LTCI decisions. Second, and even though misperceptions explain an individuals actual or his intentions to take-up LTCI, misperceptions are unlikely to explain the poor take-up rate of LTCI in our sample.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Martin Boyer & Philippe De Donder & Claude Denys Fluet & Marie-Louise Leroux & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2018. "Long-term Care Risk Misperceptions," CIRANO Working Papers 2018s-20, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2018s-20
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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe De Donder & Marie‐Louise Leroux, 2021. "Long term care insurance with state‐dependent preferences," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3074-3086, December.
    2. M. Martin Boyer & Philippe De Donder & Claude Denys Fluet & Marie-Louise Leroux & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2018. "A Canadian Parlor Room-Type Approach to the Long-Term Care Insurance Puzzle," CIRANO Working Papers 2018s-13, CIRANO.
    3. Boyer, M. Martin & Box-Couillard, Sébastien & Michaud, Pierre-Carl, 2020. "Demand for annuities: Price sensitivity, risk perceptions, and knowledge," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 883-902.
    4. Justina Klimaviciute & Pierre Pestieau, 2020. "Insurance with a deductible: a way out of the long term care insurance puzzle," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 297-307, August.
    5. Łukasz Jurek & Wioletta Wolańska, 2021. "Determinants of Demand for Private Long-Term Care Insurance (Empirical Evidence from Poland)," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Manuel Ventura-Marco & Carlos Vidal-Meliá & Juan Manuel Pérez-Salamero González, 2022. "Life care annuities to help couples cope with the cost of long-term care," Documentos de Trabajo del ICAE 2022-03, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico.
    7. Nicholas-James Clavet & Réjean Hébert & Pierre-Carl Michaud & Julien Navaux, 2022. "The future of long-term care in Quebec: what are the cost savings from a realistic shift towards more home care?," CIRANO Working Papers 2022s-09, CIRANO.
    8. Ignacio Ibarra López & Juan Antonio Tapia Cortés, 2022. "El uso de productos financieros en la demanda de seguros en México," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 17(3), pages 1-26, Julio - S.
    9. Ventura-Marco, Manuel & Vidal-Meliá, Carlos & Pérez-Salamero González, Juan Manuel, 2023. "Joint life care annuities to help retired couples to finance the cost of long-term care," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 122-139.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Long-term Care Insurance Puzzle; Disability; Misperceptions; Subjective Probability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private

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