Ministers urged not to set care cost cap that ‘may be too high to help’
This debate is all well and good but if something isn’t done to stop local authorities having to continue to support the cost of it- most first tier authorities will be bankrupt within the next decade methinks. This story tells us:
Ministers have been urged not to set a cap on care costs, which is so high that it fails to help almost all of those in need.
Theresa May is expected to publish a green paper on social care before Christmas, which will set out options about how to fund care of the elderly.
The vexed issue nearly cost the Conservatives the last election, when their proposals were branded a “dementia tax”.
Under those plans, pensioners’ assets – down to the last £100,000 – would be used to fund care whether or not they were still living in their homes.
Amid a growing backlash, Mrs May last year said the deal would include a cap on costs, with no one having to pay more than £72,000.
However, the plan was shelved, amid promises to publish a green paper – which has been repeatedly delayed – to explore the options.
Charities for the elderly raised fears that future proposals could be even worse than those which were abandoned – and could help as few as one in 20 of those in need of care.
Calculations for the Alzheimer’s Society suggest that capping total costs at £72,000 would only affect seven per cent of those who receive care.
And a higher threshold of £80,000 would mean just five per cent of pensioners receiving care would receive help, while just two per cent would get help if it rose as high as £100,000, the estimates by analysts LaingBuisson show.
The average resident of a care home spends two and a half years there, with annual costs of between £30,000 and £40,000.