Cost of care for the elderly

Lindagreenacre

My husband, aged 74 years has dementia and had to go into permanent residential care.  He is self funding, except for the attendance allowance of just over £100 per week.  Any assets over £23,250 mean that he pays for everything.  That figure has not risen since goodness knows when.  It was the same when my mother went into care in 2010, yet care home fees have risen astronomically.  As if that isn't bad enough, they still squeeze you until your assets go down to £14,250.  Is there any hope on the horizon for help for funding of care for the elderly?  All we hear is increases in child care allowance.

Spendless

I'm sure someone will come along who can explain better, but if you owned and shared your property with your husband then because you live there  that property doesn't have to be sold to pay for his care.  

Between £23,250 down to  £14, 250 you have a contribution paid towards your care by the LA.

I believe the amount  that was  talked about increasing before you start paying  costs  has been postponed/cancelled 

Keep_pedalling

Not while the country is skint, and politicians and many of the electorate are more interested in tax cuts than funding care and other social costs.

If a political party promised fully funded care costs by raising general taxation the chances of them getting elected would be slightly higher than zero. Today we are going to see 2p lopped off NI which will see an even greater squeeze on public expenditure. 

AskAsk

social care is getting more and more and local councils are going bankrupt so it is only understandable that people have to pay for care home fees themselves.

i think it is about time people are forced to pay into a care funding pot, like a personal pension plan, which they can use for care as people are living longer and so the majoiry of people will be needing care.

OldMusicGuy

Lindagreenacre said:

My husband, aged 74 years has dementia and had to go into permanent residential care.  He is self funding, except for the attendance allowance of just over £100 per week.  Any assets over £23,250 mean that he pays for everything.  That figure has not risen since goodness knows when.  It was the same when my mother went into care in 2010, yet care home fees have risen astronomically.  As if that isn't bad enough, they still squeeze you until your assets go down to £14,250.  Is there any hope on the horizon for help for funding of care for the elderly?  All we hear is increases in child care allowance.

You may remember that Boris Johnson "fixed" this with some proposed reforms that would at least limit lifetime payments to fund some aspects of care. However, he got booted out and his "promise" got conveniently postponed until at least October 2025. Which is convenient for the Tories because the next election has to be held no later than January 2025 and their chances of winning seem rather low...... It's not something Labour mentions.

Like the other posters said, the country is in a mess and any reform to funding of residential care is low priority because it is so expensive and there are many other priorities (like illusory tax cuts). We just need to accept this reality and assume it won't change in the near term.

I have just been through all of this with my FiL who moved into self-funding full time care 2 years ago. It certainly opened my eyes and has made me think about how we will fund our care in the future if we need it. 

Malthusian

AskAsk said:

i think it is about time people are forced to pay into a care funding pot, like a personal pension plan, which they can use for care 

Personal pensions can already be used to pay care fees, and people who can't afford to fund their pensions can't afford care fees either.

So you may as well argue for compulsory pension contributions; and we have already gone as far as we politically can with auto-enrolment. Pension companies have lobbied for higher auto enrolment contributions since the system was introduced, but they have gone nowhere since 2019.

Lindagreenacre

The government can find money to help the families with childcare, but not for those who suffer from illness which means that they go into care. The fact that my husband has subsidised people who won't work by paying National Insurance and Income Tax and those who have not saved their money is galling.  Yes, I know that there are people who cannot work and I appreciate that. If you are self funding, in a care home, you pay extra to subsidise those who are paid for by the local authority at a rate below what the care home wants. Rant over.

AskAsk

Malthusian said:

AskAsk said:

i think it is about time people are forced to pay into a care funding pot, like a personal pension plan, which they can use for care 

Personal pensions can already be used to pay care fees, and people who can't afford to fund their pensions can't afford care fees either.

So you may as well argue for compulsory pension contributions; and we have already gone as far as we politically can with auto-enrolment. Pension companies have lobbied for higher auto enrolment contributions since the system was introduced, but they have gone nowhere since 2019.

a lot of people spend their money on the lifestyle they want and then have little when they get to old age and rely on the state to fund their care.  by enforcing a care policy contribution, this will take pressure off the state.

AskAsk

Lindagreenacre said:

The government can find money to help the families with childcare, but not for those who suffer from illness which means that they go into care. The fact that my husband has subsidised people who won't work by paying National Insurance and Income Tax and those who have not saved their money is galling.  Yes, I know that there are people who cannot work and I appreciate that. If you are self funding, in a care home, you pay extra to subsidise those who are paid for by the local authority at a rate below what the care home wants. Rant over.

funding for childcare is to enable people to work, who will then pay tax.  it also allows the country to have a younger generation who will be the ones looking after the older generation.  some countries struggle with everyone not wanting to have children and the population is getting old and no one to look after them or to work.

two different things so you can't compare them.

Lindagreenacre

Think that I need to go on expensive holidays.  

kaysdee

I recently got a shock as I was under the misapprehension that capital under £14,250 meant a fully funded place. My husband is 62 (I’m younger) diagnosed with young onset dementia 5 years ago and we still have kids at home. He lost his PIP as expected when he went into a temporary placement last year and only has ESA now. His placement is now permanent and a new financial assessment says the LA now expect him to use his ESA to contribute, leaving him with only £28 per week personal allowance. Our home is disregarded but they allowed no deductions for any essential household costs (insurances, etc) or allowance for the kids. I work full time but not highly paid. It’s very difficult both emotionally and financially.