How different countries allocate long-term care resources to older users: a comparative snapshot

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Abstract
This chapter examines public resource allocation among LTC users in Australia, England, Germany, Japan, Italy, Sweden and the U.S. In public Ltc expenditure for older people Sweden is in a league of its own as its spending on both community care and institutions is more than double the others. Outside of Sweden, Japan and then Australia and England are the highest spenders. The low spenders are Italy and the U.S. After looking at the overall public expenditure, the chapter examines expenditure and coverage both in community care and in institutions. It then moves on exploiting the evidence gathered in order to discuss the most controversial issues concerning cost control in LTC policy, such as controlling eligibility and adjusting the policy mix between cash and care.