Social care reform: elderly people to borrow cash for care
This story tells how as part of the new white paper on social care:
“The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, will announce plans to “end the scandal of older people being forced to sell their homes” by allowing the elderly and vulnerable to borrow the cash to pay for residential care from councils – to be repaid when they die.
The government will introduce a deferred payment scheme from 2015 as part of a package of measures proposed by the Dilnot commission a year ago. This will allow local authorities to agree to pay in advance for care if individuals cannot afford to do so without selling their home. Councils then recoup the cash when the house is sold.”
We too often equate deep rural places with elderly residents as wealthy – this is often not the case and many active elderly as they progress into their 80s end up being marooned in terms of accessible social care. Whilst this measure may remove some of their anxiety about losing their homes, I am none the wiser about how it will support hard pressed rural authorities in continuing to offer them a good standard of care in their homes.