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To: Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health
Stop the £75,000 Care Home Bill for OAPs
Dear Minister
The full cost of being looked after in Care Homes, should rightfully be met through revenue that the Government generates by people paying taxes all of their lives!
Until this is achieved, it is outrageous that the £75,000 cap is more than double the £35,000 recommended by economist Andrew Dilnot in a report ordered by ministers.
£75,000 may be nothing or very little to the majority of Ministers or those from privileged backgrounds who will be very comfortable in retirement.
For the vast majority of people, this amount can only be raised through selling their homes and using money that should have gone to their children and grand children!
This is a despicable act by a very cruel Government!
The full cost of being looked after in Care Homes, should rightfully be met through revenue that the Government generates by people paying taxes all of their lives!
Until this is achieved, it is outrageous that the £75,000 cap is more than double the £35,000 recommended by economist Andrew Dilnot in a report ordered by ministers.
£75,000 may be nothing or very little to the majority of Ministers or those from privileged backgrounds who will be very comfortable in retirement.
For the vast majority of people, this amount can only be raised through selling their homes and using money that should have gone to their children and grand children!
This is a despicable act by a very cruel Government!
Why is this important?
Those who cannot afford £75,000 can defer payment until after their death, and nobody would be forced to sell their home in their lifetime.
But once the bill is settled by disposal of the property, many ordinary families will be left with little to show for what their relative has worked for all their life.
In Liverpool, where the average home is worth around £132,000, there would be just £57,000 left over after settling the contribution to care costs.
Stephen Burke, head of charity United for All Ages, called it “the dampest of damp squibs”. He added: “It is a con of the worst sort. There are fairer and better alternatives. The Government could have raised the capital threshold of paying for care to £200,000.”
Labour peer Lord Warner, who sat on the Dilnot Commission, said members thought the cost cap should have been £50,000 at most.
He added: “At that level, it would mean on average no-one would have to dispose of more than about a third of the value of their housing assets.”
Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall said the package was a “small step forward” as the assets people could own and still qualify for help had increased five-fold from just £23,250.
But she added: “It won’t be fair for people with modest homes.”
But once the bill is settled by disposal of the property, many ordinary families will be left with little to show for what their relative has worked for all their life.
In Liverpool, where the average home is worth around £132,000, there would be just £57,000 left over after settling the contribution to care costs.
Stephen Burke, head of charity United for All Ages, called it “the dampest of damp squibs”. He added: “It is a con of the worst sort. There are fairer and better alternatives. The Government could have raised the capital threshold of paying for care to £200,000.”
Labour peer Lord Warner, who sat on the Dilnot Commission, said members thought the cost cap should have been £50,000 at most.
He added: “At that level, it would mean on average no-one would have to dispose of more than about a third of the value of their housing assets.”
Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall said the package was a “small step forward” as the assets people could own and still qualify for help had increased five-fold from just £23,250.
But she added: “It won’t be fair for people with modest homes.”
