Giving people peace of mind
Issued on behalf of the Commission on Funding of
Care and Support. Costs would be capped and the
means-tested threshold increased under major changes to the
funding of adult social care in England, recommended today by the
Commission on Funding of Care and Support in its final report
Fairer Care Funding.
Instead of individuals paying all their care costs until they
have assets of less than £23,250, as under the current system, the
proposals would mean that those with high care costs would only
pay up to a set amount and after that their care costs would be
paid for by the State.
The independent commission, set up by the Government last July,
was asked to recommend a fair and sustainable funding system for
adult social care in England.
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. This cap should be between £25,000 and
£50,000. We consider that £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; andAll those
who enter adulthood with a care and support need should be
eligible for free state support immediately rather than being
subjected to a means test.
The Commission estimates that its proposals – based on a cap of
£35,000 – would cost the State around £1.7billion.
Andrew Dilnot, chair of the Commission, said:
“The issue of funding for adult social care has been ignored for
too long. We should be celebrating the fact we are living longer
and that younger people with disabilities are leading more
independent lives than ever before. But instead we talk about the
‘burden of ageing’ and individuals are living in fear, worrying
about meeting their care costs.
“The current system is confusing, unfair and unsustainable.
People can’t protect themselves against the risk of very high care
costs and risk losing all their assets, including their house.
This problem will only get worse if left as it is, with the most
vulnerable in our society being the ones to suffer.
“Under our proposed system, everybody who gets free support from
the State now will continue to do so and everybody else would be
better off. Putting a limit on the maximum lifetime costs people
may face will allow them to plan ahead for how they wish to meet
these costs. By protecting a larger amount of people’s assets,
they need no longer fear losing everything.”
In the next twenty years, the number of people aged 85 and over
in England is projected to double to 2.4 million.
The current adult social care funding system, conceived in 1948,
means that those with assets of more than £23,250 are liable for
the full cost of their social care needs. A quarter of 65 year
olds today can expect to face care costs of over £50,000 and for
one in 10 it will be more than £100,000.
Given the uncertainty that people currently face over their
future care costs, there are limited financial products on the
market to support them. This creates great uncertainty and people
worry about the future. Capping individuals’ contributions would
open a new space for financial products based around insurance,
pension, housing assets or savings-based schemes.
The Commission believes that this combination of a cap and the
higher means-tested threshold would ensure that no-one going into
residential care would have to spend more than 30 per cent of
their assets on their care costs. Under the current system, at the
extreme, people face losing over 90 per cent of their assets.
Among the other recommendations in today’s report are:
People should contribute a standard amount to cover their
general living costs, like food and accommodation, in residential
care;Universal disability benefits should continue, but Attendance
Allowance should be rebranded so people understand its purpose; An
awareness campaign should be launched to help people understand
the system and engage with it; Carers should be supported by
improved assessments which aim to ensure that the impact on the
carer is manageable and sustainable; andThe deferred payment offer
should be extended so it is available to everyone, wherever they
live.
In addition to funding the proposed reforms, the Commission said
that additional public funding for the current means-tested system
is urgently required.
Notes to Editors
1. For further information please contact the Department of
Health press office on 020 7210 5221 and ask to be put through to
the Commission’s press office. 2. To read the report and
supporting documents visit: www.dilnotcommission.dh.gsi.gov.uk.
The report will be live on the website from 11am. 3. The
Commission on Funding of Care and Support is chaired by Andrew
Dilnot with two further commissioners, Lord Norman Warner and Dame
Jo Williams. 4. The Commission estimates that the recommended
changes to the funding system would cost from around £1.3billion
for a cap of £50,000 to £2.2billion for a cap of £25,000. 5.
Social care helps people to be independent, active and healthy
throughout their lives. It is about helping people to do
day-to-day things like cooking, shopping and living in their own
home or funding for residential care where necessary. The main
users of care and support services are: • People who have had an
accident • People who have a long term illness • People with a
disability • Older people • People with learning disabilities 6.
Below is an example to illustrate the current and proposed system.
Alice lived alone in her own home worth £175,000. She had dementia
and needed to go into a residential care home when she was 83 for
the last five years of her life. Under the current system, she
would have to pay for all her care and living costs in full until
she died. To cover this she would have to sell her home and would
end up spending over £90,000.Under our reformed system, Alice
would contribute in full to her care and general living costs for
two years. At this point she would have reached the £35,000 cap
and from then on the state would pay her care costs of £18,500 per
year and Alice would just pay for her general living costs out of
her pension income. She would keep 80 per cent of her wealth
(£140,000).
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk