Shaping the future of care together
The government green paper on how society should provide care for the elderly and infirm has finally been released. The proposal is for a national care service that could be financed in 3 main ways. No conclusions were drawn and a prolonged consultation period begins.
Extracts from official green paper:
Partnership
"Everyone who qualified for care and support from the state would be entitled to have a set proportion – for example, a quarter or a third – of their basic care and support costs paid for by the state. People who were less well-off would have more care and support paid for – for example, two-thirds – while the least well-off people would continue to get all their care and support for free. Many people would pay much less. And some people who needed high levels of care and support would pay far more than this, and would need to spend their savings and the value of their homes."
Insurance
"Everyone would be entitled to have a share of their care and support costs met, just as in the Partnership model. But this system would go further to help people cover the additional costs of their care and support through insurance, if they wanted to. If people decided to pay into the scheme, they would get all their basic care and support free if they needed it. As an indication of the costs, people might need to pay around £20,000 to £25,000 to be protected under a scheme of this sort."
Comprehensive
"Everyone over retirement age who had the resources to do so would be required to pay into a state insurance scheme. Everyone who was able to pay would pay their contribution, and then everyone whose needs meant that they qualified for care and support from the state would get all of their basic care and support for free when they needed it.
It would be possible to vary how much people had to pay according to what they could afford. The size of people’s contribution could be set according to what savings or assets they had, so that the system was more affordable for people who were less well-off.
Alternatively, if people wanted to be able to know exactly how much they would have to pay, most people other than those with lower levels of savings or assets could be required to pay a single, set figure, so that people knew how much they would have to save for. As an indication of the costs, people might need to pay around £17,000 to £20,000 to be protected under a scheme of this sort."
Accommodation Costs
"It is important to note that these options consider only the costs of people’s care. People entering a care home would also have to pay for their accommodation. Accommodation costs, such as the costs of food and lodging, are not paid for by the state. This is because the state would not pay for people to buy their food or pay their mortgage or their rent if they were living at home."