It’s time to bite the bullet on paying for care
It’s time to bite the bullet on paying for care
By Paul and Jennifer Roberts
www.caringforyourbusiness.co.uk
The ‘Big Care Debate’ is finally underway – and it’s time for us to bite the bullet on paying for care.
It will be anathema for some and a distant thought for many struggling in the worst recession for more than 70 years.
But, painful as it may be, we can’t afford to ignore what will be one of the most important issues of the next 20 years.
As the number of over-65s soars, paying for social care will be an inevitable consequence for the vast majority of us.
We should begin to look at paying for care in the same way as taking out life assurance and paying for car, house and contents insurance.
We have to start regarding it as an essential cost of life, one we cannot do without.
Every month, we fork out tens of millions of pounds for hairdressers and gardeners – and for TV packages and home boiler and computer maintenance arrangements.
Should we not expect to pay out for a much more important part of our life – a care package in our old age?
Critics will argue that, like the NHS, care under a proposed National Care Service should be free for all.
That people who have paid taxes all their lives should be entitled to free social care after retirement.
The fact is there will not be enough money to pay for a high quality service we all desire in our old age.
Particularly when we learn that a further 1.7 million more adults will need care and support in England by 2026.
The new green paper – Shaping the Future of Care Together – outlines three options for funding future care needs:
· A partnership arrangement in which the state would guarantee a certain level of care (potentially up to a third), leaving the individual to pick up the bill for the rest. For many, this could total £20,000, but this figure would be much higher for people needing long term care
· An insurance model, again guaranteeing a certain level of care, in which the Government would help to set up private or state insurance schemes to help people cover the extra costs – and protect their savings
· A compulsory state insurance scheme in which people reaching retirement would pay between £17,000 and £20,000 – through a lump sum, instalments, or from their estate after death – to fund their social care package
Realistically, a partnership model backed up by a voluntary or compulsory insurance scheme is the most likely way forward.
Insurance schemes, whether private or state-led, will inevitably be viewed with suspicion.
This is not surprising considering that current premiums for funding social care are expensive.
Any new scheme will have to be competitively priced, easy to understand and fair for all if it is to work.
Will a voluntary or compulsory payment option be the best option? No-one is sure at the moment.
Research shows that fewer than one in five of us would take out voluntary insurance, regardless of how good an option it was.
Perhaps compulsory payments – where everyone who could afford to do so would pay in, whether or not they actually needed care and support themselves – is the only answer.
Public consultation – dubbed the ‘Big Care Debate’ by the Government – ends on November 13, 2009.
A white paper – containing the proposals arising from the consultation – is due to be published in 2010.
But it is unlikely that any major changes in social care will be implemented before 2014.
This is our first real chance to have a say on an issue that affects us all.
Please don’t waste this opportunity.
Paul and Jennifer Roberts
www.caringforyourbusiness.co.uk
Roberts Consultants, specialists in developing care businesses
March 1st, 2010 at 7:03 pm
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April 2nd, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Thanks. I enjoy your topics
April 5th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Does anyone know when health insurance will become available in a different form than it is right now?
May 15th, 2010 at 7:11 am
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May 18th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Wonderful insight.
July 3rd, 2010 at 9:02 pm
While this topic is usually incredibly touchy for most individuals, my opinion is the fact that there has to become a middle or frequent ground that we all can locate. I do appreciate your additional relevant and intelligent commentary. Thank you!
October 6th, 2010 at 1:24 am
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