Social Care

[whatabouthisthen]

The following is part of a communication I received after writing to Mrs May on the subject Adult Care and Council Tax.The explanation of the present system may be a surprise to many.  On the face of it, it seems a better solution than the present one.



people need security, which is why we will make sure no one will have to sell their family home to pay for their immediate care needs. We will also protect a minimum of £100,000 of your savings so, however expensive your care, you will be able to pass something on to your family.
 
Most people don't have to think about long-term care, so it is important to understand how the present system works.Despite what some have said, care and support services in England have never been free. Right now, people have to pay the full cost of care unless their savings fall below£23,250, at which point they pay part of their cost based on ameans test until their savings are run down to £14,250. For those in residential care the value of their house is taken into consideration as well.
 
Under the current system, local councils are responsible for organising care, making those who have savings pay for their own care. When a person goes into residential care, the value of their home is usually included when calculating what they have to pay, apart from the first twelve weeks when this is disregarded. Worse still, the current system can be a lottery, with some councils requiring payment while the person incare is at home. This has often resulted in people having to sell their homes, causing real anxiety at a time when people need support.
Our new proposals mean you won't need to sell your home within your lifetime.
 
So, our plan will replace the system where people often get poor-quality care and stand to lose almost all their savings and assets, including the family home.  Our plan addresses the worries people have about paying for the care of loved ones with long-term conditions.
 
Furthermore, our proposals will be presented in the form of a Green Paper, (a government consultation document) and will provide the beginning of a solution to social care without increasing taxes on younger generations. That consultation will include an absolute limit on the amount people have to pay for their care costs. Most important, everyone will get to comment on what is in the paper and the Government will listen carefully to everyone's concerns before setting the final policy.
 
But since the manifesto was published, the proposals have been subject to fake claims by Jeremy Corbyn. It is sad that he has resorted to scaremongering. That's why I hope Theresa May's statement – that there will be an absolute limit to the amount that people will have to contribute – reassures you that no one will be forced to eat into all of their savings. Labour and the Liberal Democrats are just scaremongering.
 
So let me reiterate: 
 
o We will put more money into health and social care. 
 
o We will make sure there is an absolute limit on what people will need to pay for their care by capping the amount they have to pay.
 
o We will protect people from the huge costs that can accumulate from elderly care, by protecting people's assets of at least £100,000 from social care costs. This will be done with a capital floor that is four times the current level of protection of assets. 
 
o We will make sure no one has to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for care, by extending deferred payment agreements for people getting care in their own home. This will take the anxiety out of getting support.
 
o We will generate more money for social care by including the home in the test for people getting care in their own home. This is what already happens with people in residential care, and will mean people's assets are treated equally wherever they are looked after. 
 
o We will improve the care people receive by increasing co-operation between the NHS and the care system,ending unnecessary and sometimes unhealthy stays in hospital, and studying how to make best use of specialist housing and new technology that enables people to live independently, with dignity, for longer.
 
 
o We will give people the right to request unpaid leave from work to care for a relative for up to a year, because the vast majority of care is provided informally, usually within the family.
 
I believe the greatest unfairness would be to dump the costs of social care on our children, which is the alternative.

[akarjl]

Under the current system, local councils are responsible for organising care,

I am surprised Cwissie,Lying Steve,The Orangutang and Morton haven't clambered on that particular bandwagon.

Can you imagine "ubcare-we have a vision of your future"?

[Truthache]

o We will give people the right to request unpaid leave from work to care for a relative for up to a year, because the vast majority of care is provided informally, usually within the family.

Two questions about that particular proposal:
1.  How many people can afford to take 1 years unpaid leave?
2.  How will employers view allowing an employee(s) 1 year leave of absence?

The earlier comment that the government would listen to public opinion after a Green Paper was published is highly unlikely.  They don't listen to the public now.  They only listen to bankers and millionaires.

[akarjl]

Is labour any different?

They didn't listen to us about Europe or invading Iraq?

None of them listen. They decide and govern the way they see fit. Usually motivated by egos and back handers I suspect.