Elderly Care Costs

Almost 200,000 more pensioners will be forced to pay all the costs of their care in coming years after a “stealth” cut to Government funding for the elderly, new research predicts.

By John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor, Daily Telegraph

A study carried out by Age UK for The Daily Telegraph predicts that the cost to families of funding old-age care will more than double in the next 13 years, far outstripping the taxpayer’s contribution.

The number of people in England who do not qualify for any state support would spiral to 670,000 unless dramatic steps are taken, the study estimates. At the same time the wealth threshold for qualifying for Government support has risen more slowly than inflation for several years, according to Age UK.

Campaigners said that this amounts to a “stealth” cut in funding for old age care.

Michelle Mitchell, director general of Age UK said: “Over the years support for care services has been eroded to the point where the system is in crisis. “This means that more and more of the burden of paying for care has been pushed onto older people and their families without any wider discussion about the fairest way of funding these essential services. "This is why we need leadership from the Government to frame an urgent debate on radical reform of the care system.”

The charity calculates that the number of people in England forced to pay for all of their elderly care needs is set to rise from around 490,000 now to 530,000 by 2015. It would then increase to an estimated 670,000 people a decade later. That would see the bill to families spiral from £8.4 billion at present to £17.5 billion in the same period.

The steep rise is a result not only of the ageing population but also the fact that more and more people now approaching retirement own their own homes, meaning that they would be judged too well-off to qualify for any support. A White Paper setting out how care for the elderly is to be overhauled to cope with the looming crisis is due to be published later this summer.

Separately, the major political parties have been holding unprecedented cross-party talks in an attempt to seek agreement on a new way of paying for elderly care. Last year a Government Commission chaired by the economist Andrew Dilnot proposed capping the amount anyone would pay at £35,000. He also proposed raising the threshold, so that only those with assets worth more than £100,000 would have to make a contribution to their care costs. Currently the figure is just under £23,500.

Age UK estimates that although this figure has risen by almost £3,000 in the last seven years, when the rising cost of living is taken into account that equates to a fall of £2,200 in real terms. Dr Ros Altmann, director general of Saga, said: “This is another stealth tax on the middle income pensioners who have saved.

“This is the worst means test in our whole system ... There are more and more people needing care and less and less money being allocated to them so the squeezed middle is being squeezed again.“These are people who have worked hard. The very well-off will probably be able to afford it but it is the decent middle classes who may have put money into a pension but nobody told them they needed it for care as well. “Those who have saved for their future don’t mind paying something for care but what is so desperately unfair about the current system is to lose everything."

Liz Kendall, the shadow minister for older people, who is involved in the cross-party talks, said: “This analysis strengthens the urgent case for reforming our broken care system. “Thousands of people are already paying the price for a system that has now reached crisis point. “It is not only that more people are paying more but that the charges they face for home care and residential care vary hugely across the country so people face a postcode lottery through no fault of their own.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The main reason for these figures is an ageing population which will mean more and more people will need care and support in years to come. “But we are committing an extra £7.2 billion to social care over the next four years to make sure councils have enough to maintain the current levels of access and eligibility. “We are working to reform social care and we will publish our plans very shortly.”