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Long-term care risk misperceptions

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Boyer

    (HEC Montréal)

  • Philippe Donder

    (ESG UQAM)

  • Claude Fluet

    (Université Laval)

  • Marie-Louise Leroux

    (University of Québec at Montréal (UQAM))

  • Pierre-Carl Michaud

    (HEC Montréal)

Abstract

This paper reports survey evidence on long-term care (LTC) risk misperceptions and demand for long-term care insurance (LTCI) in Canada. We study three LTC risks: needing help with at least one activity of daily living, needing access to a nursing home, and living to the age of 85. We contrast subjective (stated) probabilities with objective (predicted) probabilities for these three dimensions, and define misperceptions as the differences between them. We first provide descriptive statistics about objective and subjective probabilities. We then analyse how risk misperceptions correlate with individual characteristics and how they affect intentions and actual purchase of LTCI. We find that although misperceptions significantly affect both intention to buy LTCI and actual purchase of LTCI, they cannot explain the low take-up rate of LTCI in our sample. Correcting simultaneously the perceptions of LTC risks on the three dimensions would increase LTCI take-up by at most one percentage point.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Boyer & Philippe Donder & Claude Fluet & Marie-Louise Leroux & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2019. "Long-term care risk misperceptions," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 44(2), pages 183-215, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:gpprii:v:44:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1057_s41288-018-00116-4
    DOI: 10.1057/s41288-018-00116-4
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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. 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.
    3. 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?," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 2201, Chaire de recherche sur les enjeux économiques intergénérationnels / Research Chair in Intergenerational Economics.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    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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