Category Archives: Older care
Much more needs to be done to meet the growing need for good quality and affordable care.
Church gives cautious welcome to adult care reforms
Posted: Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 14:42 (GMT)
The social action arm of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has welcomed the cap on adult social care costs and the extension of the means-testing threshold.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced in Parliament yesterday that a ‘cost gap’ of £75,000 in care costs would be introduced, with the state stepping in after this point.
The current means-testing threshold for people to be eligible for state-funded social care will be extended from £23,520 to £123,000.
Thousands more people will have to pay Inheritance tax
Social care: Inheritance tax freeze expected
Under the proposals, the state would cover the cost of care above £75,000Thousands more people will have to pay inheritance tax to help fund long-awaited social care reforms in England, ministers will announce on Monday.
The inheritance tax threshold is to be frozen at £325,000 for individuals and £650,000 for couples for three years from 2015.
That will help to fund plans including an expected cap of £75,000 on the costs people in England have to pay for care.
Campaigners say higher taxes have been introduced “by the back door”.
The cost of social care in old age
9 February 2013 Last updated at 19:09
Social care cap ‘to be set at £75,000’
The cap would mean no one in England will have to pay more than £75,000 for their care in old ageElderly people in England will not have to pay more than £75,000 for long-term social care after 2017, the health secretary is expected to say on Monday.
The cost of any care above that amount would be paid for by the state.
The figure is much higher than that recommended by the Dilnot report, which said any cap should be set at £35,000.
The BBC also understands the threshold for means-tested support, for those unable to pay their contribution, will rise to about £110,000.
Reform of social care has been the objective of successive governments but only limited changes have taken place and cross-party talks broke down.
Full details of the agreement are set to be revealed in Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s statement to the Commons.
The £75,000 cap is thought to only cover the cost of care, bought at local authority prices.
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