Objective  To examine the attitude and considerations toward the establishment of long-term care insurance system among elderly residents in Sichuan province and to provide references for the establishment and implementation of the system.

  Methods  We recruited residents aged 60 years and elder from 7 municipalities of Sichuan province using convenient sampling and conducted a survey with a self-designed questionnaire between June 2016 and July 2017.

  Results  Of the 1 187 participants with eligible information, 559 (47.1%) and 628 (52.9%) reported the necessity and unnecessity attitude to the establishment of the long-term care insurance system. For the 293 participants reporting the necessity and indicating reasons for the necessity, 36.2% (106) and 32.4% (95) considered that the long-term care insurance system could reduce the burden of a family with an elder person needing care and improve daily life of the elderly. While for the 368 participants reporting the unnecessity and indicating reasons for the unnecessity, 35.6% (131) stated they could be cared by themselves or by their family members, 33.4% (123) and 22.6% (83) reported lack of knowledge on the system and economical difficulty for paying the cost of long-term care insurance.

  Conclusion  Nearly half of the elderly in Sichuan province support the establishment of long-term care insurance system. Establishment and implementation of regional long-term care insurance system should promote home care and insurance premiums that are affordable to the public and focus on publicity.