How to provide and pay for long term care of an aging population is an international concern

As populations age, most industrialized nations are seeking to review the structure for their long term care programs with the goal of allocating better limited public resources to meet expanding needs. In this Commentary, I examine critical questions that define the way individual nations provide for the long term care needs of their aging populations. As examined by Asiskovitch, Israel's programs appear, in cross-national context, to have a broader reach and rely more heavily on community based services. In the future, the challenge Israel may face involves maintaining aspects of its programs that probably account for its popular support and stability while it identifies better the extent of potential gaps in care for those with greater needs and how best to meet them.