title: Resource effects on access to long-term care for frail older people.
abstract: Access to long-term care depends primarily on personal resources, including family members and income, and on external resources, including Medicaid and Medicare. This study investigates how resources affect frail older individuals' access to long-term care, with a focus on Black and White widows. Data from the 1989 National Long-Term Care Survey is used, in conjunction with state-level Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates for nursing home and home health care, to estimate the likelihood of five types of care arrangements. Results show that children are a primary resource for unmarried individuals in maintaining access to informal care. Income effects are nonlinear in relation to nursing home care: increasing incomes below the mean income are associated with decreasing probabilities of nursing home care, while increasing incomes above the mean are associated with increasing probabilities of nursing home care. Income and Medicaid effects are interrelated, with nonlinearities associated with income having the potential to adversely affect some older persons' ability to access nursing home care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Behavior and Administration, College of Health and Human Services, UNC Charlotte, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jenkins
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016015:Logistic Models; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D006278:Medicare; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data