Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine how income level affects the willingness to pay out-of-pocket payments for those who bear the cost of home care services to use better services. METHODS: We analyzed data from 1,189 family caregivers who used home care services in the Co-payment for LTC Insurance in 2021. The Chi-square and Cochran-Mantel-haenszel tests was conducted to confirm the relationship between the family caregiver's income level and willingness to pay out-of-pocket payments. The logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the effect of income level on willingness to pay. RESULTS: We found that 58.6% of family caregivers in home care services were willing to pay out-of-pocket payments for better long-term care service. After adjusting home care benefit types, the higher the family caregivers' income level, the higher the willingness to pay additional out-of-pocket payments(p<.001). In addition, as family caregivers' income level increased, the odds ratio of the willingness to pay additional payments tended to increase(p<.001). CONCLUSION: Family caregivers who are responsible for the payment of home care services by recipients are willing to pay additional out-of-pocket payments for better service use by recipients. We found that the higher the income level, the higher the willingness to pay. It is necessary to consider the additional cost sharing along with introducing the new home care services and improving the quality of home care services.