Assessing Current and Future Expenditure on Long-Term Care in North Macedonia

Overview & Synopsis

This assessment focuses solely on government expenditures on sustainable long-term care (LTC) for the elderly, as requested by the The Government of North Macedonia (GoNM). It does not attempt to calculate the costs of the provision of uncompensated informal care by family and friends, nor does it evaluate the cost of privately purchased LTC services, or the premiums or payments received under private LTC insurance policies. This report also has not considered pensions or any other income support provided by the government to people aged 65 years and older because the primary objective of those programs is to assure a minimum standard of living or income replacement for individuals receiving these benefits rather than compensating them directly for limitations in their basic functioning. Similarly, other aspects of the pension benefits system, such as pension homes for those who qualify for a pension, are also not considered. These exclusions are in line with international standards on LTC accounting as discussed in Section II.