Abstract: Long-term care insurance is an important institutional arrangement in the social security system, and improving it is of great significance for promoting the implementation of the Healthy China strategy. Different from the insufficient explanation of the path mechanism of the health effects of long-term care insurance and the lag of research data in previous studies, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of long-term care insurance on the multidimensional health of the elderly population using the latest CHARLS data from five periods from 2011 to 2020, and uses the Grossman's Model of Health Demand to test the underlying transmission mechanism. Research has found that long-term care insurance significantly improves the physical and mental health of the elderly. Mechanism analysis shows that long-term care insurance improves the health of the elderly by increasing household consumption and reducing the burden of child care, meeting their needs and increasing health investment. Heterogeneity analysis shows that long-term care insurance is more conducive to improving the health welfare level of vulnerable elderly groups such as the elderly, women, those with lower education levels, and those with lower incomes, and has a health promotion effect that tends towards vulnerable groups. Based on this, it is recommended to improve the top-level design, gradually expand the pilot scope and coverage of insured persons, establish a precise identification mechanism for nursing assistance, increase subsidies for disadvantaged groups, strengthen the construction of grassroots public health facilities, and promote equalization of basic public services.

Key words: Long-term care insurance, elderly people, physical health, mental health