Home care services in Israel-implications of the expansion of home care following implementation of the Community Long-Term Care Insurance Law

In 1986 the Israeli Parliament enacted the Community Long-Term Care Insurance (CLTCI) Law, in response to concern over the growing need for long-term care. The principal aims of this study were to examine the extent to which the law has improved the appropriateness of care, reduced unmet needs, and lessened the burden on families of disabled elderly living in the community; and to assess the degree to which the expansion of formal services has supplemented, or substituted for, informal assistance. The findings show that expansion of formal services under the law has significantly increased the number of elderly receiving care, as well as the quantity of care they receive. This study also indicates that the formal services added under the law supplement, but do not substitute for, informal care: This has had a positive effect both on the elderly and on their families.