Long-term care quality systems and developing regulatory systems

The final two case study countries are still in developmental stages and have been furiously working to develop legislation, followed by guidelines that local or regional authorities can implement. The populations of both South Korea and China have been ageing rapidly, meaning that their need for formal long-term care is relatively recent and is expected to grow dramatically in the next several decades. South Korea recently enacted universal long-term care service eligibility but is still grappling with what kinds of organizations can serve recipients of this new healthcare benefit. China, which until recently had only government-operated long-term care facilities, has adopted a policy to stimulate the private sector to develop institutional long-term care by subsidizing construction and operation. This policy has been coupled with a policy of ‘light touch’ regulation meant to further encourage investment by the private sector. How these two countries develop their long-term care quality regulatory systems over the next several decades will be of considerable interest to other rapidly ageing developing countries.