Survey of Long-Term Care Awareness and Planning, 2014 [United States]

The Survey of Long-Term Care Awareness and Planning was designed to measure the attitudes of Americans ages 40-70 towards long-term care (LTC), retirement planning, and insurance policy preferences. Few people have private LTC insurance, and Medicare does not cover LTC. Many older adults pay for LTC out of their income and personal savings until they are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. Others, to avoid exhausting their financial resources and relying on Medicaid, depend on unpaid family support or go without needed services. The Survey of Long-Term Care Awareness and Planning collected data on LTC in order to help inform federal policy in this area. The survey collected respondents' current health information, willingness to take risks, plans for disability care, retirement preparation, and insurance coverage. Part of the survey was a discrete choice experiment (DCE) or conjoint analysis designed to elicit respondent preferences on specific features of LTC insurance. This section included choices on daily benefit, benefit period, deductible period, health requirements, type of insurer, monthly premium, and voluntary or universal. Respondents were also asked about the types of investments they had, where they received health information, opinions on the US healthcare system, whether they had been diagnosed with specific health conditions, willingness to make lifestyle changes due to a disability, concerns about long-term disability care, and opinions on who should be responsible for the costs of LTC. Demographic information collected includes age, education, household size, race, gender, income, marital status, and region.