Important announcement into funding for adult care
04/07/2011
The
much-anticipated report by the Commission on Funding Care and
Support has been published today at the start of Dementia Awareness
Week. The report, which follows an independent review by the
Commission – headed by Andrew Dilnot – into care funding for the
elderly and adults with disabilities, was widely expected to
recommend an overhaul of the support given to the elderly and
adults with disabilities and to create a fairer funding
system.
This morning, The Commission on Funding of
Care and Support presented its findings to the Government in
its report Fairer Care Funding.
Among the recommendations in the report
are:
- Individuals' lifetime contributions towards
their social care costs - which are currently potentially unlimited
- should be capped. After the cap is reached, individuals would be
eligible for full state support. The cap should be between
£25,000 and £50,000. £35,000 is the most appropriate and fair
figure;
- The means-tested threshold, above which
people are liable for their full care costs, should be increased
from £23,250 to £100,000;
- National eligibility criteria and portable
assessments should be introduced to ensure greater consistency
- Individuals in residential care will be
responsible for their 'hotel' costs expected to be up to £10,000 a
year in addition to the £35,000.
The proposals will only affect those
people who require social care. This will not affect individuals
who are entitled to NHS Continuing Healthcare, where the primary
reason they are in a care home is because of their health and all
costs will still be met for free by the NHS.
“Commenting on the announcement, Lisa Morgan, Partner with the specialist nursing
care team at Hugh James , says: “We welcome the
Commission's proposals on how social care should be paid in the
future. The current system that we have is unfair, complex and
unsustainable and needs radical reform. Thousands of people a year
are being forced to sell their homes to pay for care. In our
experience this causes anxiety and distress to individuals and
their families. National rules will enable people to plan and make
decisions about how they fund their care.”
"The announcement today is going to affect how
elderly care will be funded in the future and it is big news for
everyone – both those affected now and those who will be affected
later in life. The majority of people in care suffer with
dementia and the recommendations of this report should create a
fairer system for these people who often have their funding
withdrawn at a point when they need care the most.”
Lisa goes on to say: “The current system for
paying for care is extremely complex and we welcome an improvement
in the system.
“On a daily basis, we act for clients that are
forced to sell their homes to pay for care and this leads to huge
upset and distress. The system that is currently in place is
unfair and unclear and we look forward to seeing a more common
sense approach being applied.”
Lisa Morgan is a
leading solicitor and media commentator in the field of NHS
Continuing Healthcare and has been successful in recovering over
£15million in elderly care fees.