Measuring the awareness on financing long term care cost among public and private sector employees in Malaysia

Abstract

Financing long-term care for elderly people is a crucial issue, either towards the family members or the care institution. Corresponding with the growing number of ageing population in Malaysia, there's a need of concern on the uncertaintiness of future family care and the need for long-term care services. This changing pattern of healthcare and cost over individual's lifetime is a key component in actuarial field in developing assumptions and projecting the costs. This paper examined the determinants of awareness towards long-term care preparation among employed adults in Malaysia, between public and private sector employees and also between men and women. 1,000 close-ended questionnaires were distributed to random employees in Malaysia and 450 responds were collected. Two tests were analysed using multiple regression analysis. The results from the regression among employees from different sector shows that dependency and health status are significant towards the awareness of preparing for long-term care cost. However, their financial literacy for long-term care cost during old age are still very low. Another result shows that only health status shows a significant result among women compared to men. These results indicate the level of awareness on financing long-term care cost among employees in Malaysia are still low and needs attention.