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Care home funding Reform urgently needed
IT remains one of the great scandals of modern Britain that pensioners are forced to sell their homes to fund vital care in old age.
At a time when the elderly are facing the inevitably traumatic prospect of leaving their cherished homes as their health fades, it is all the more distressing that they should face concerns over how they fund their future care, as well as being forced to give up nest eggs they had hoped to pass on to their children.
At present, about a third of care-home residents have to pay their own bill if they have assets of more than 22,250.
The Government, unlike that in Scotland where free care is available to all, has been typically slow to react. Already the Conservatives have pledged reforms which will allow pensioners who save enough to pay for one or two years' care to be freed from any further costs – although they have ruled out making residential care free for all.
Now, better late than never, Ministers are expected to bring forward proposals which would include allowing pensioners with properties access to full-time care without having to sell their homes.
Of course the devil will be in the detail. With the worsening state of public finances likely to affect Government spending for a generation, it seems likely pensioners will be expected to contribute possibly through a new compulsory insurance system during their working lives or a one-off payment of 12,000 on retirement.
Elderly people will be anxiously awaiting an urgent resolution of this issue. It is a burden which should be lifted from them without delay.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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