How much risk is mitigated by long-term care protection schemes? A methodological note and a case study of the public system in Spain

One of the main objectives of long-term care (LTC) projection schemes, public and private, is to mitigate the risk to individuals of being exposed to “catastrophic” costs of care, which can occur when a person needs care for a very long period of time. A US-based study suggested that the average value of lifetime long-term care expenditures for people turning 65 in 2005 was approximately $47,000, with 28% of individuals facing costs in excess of $100,000 (Kemper et al. 2005).