Descriptive analysis of service use covered by long-term care insurance in Japan - based on population-based claims data

Background Japan has the population with the highest proportion of aged people in the world and it rapidly continues to grow due to long life expectancy and a low birth rate, while traditional supports for elderly people are eroding. In response, the Japanese Government initiated mandatory public long-term care insurance (LTCI) in 2000. However, little has been published on the report of evaluation of LTCI with population-based data besides our previous report [1]. To make the provision of long-term care services effective, it is important for policy makers to have accurate evidence regarding the actual usage of services covered by public long-term care insurance (LTCI).