The chaos within the government in recent years, along with a possible change in government this year, has meant any plan to fix the social care system in England looks, for the moment, to have been thrown into the long grass.
As a result and amid the cost of living crisis, advisers face challenges trying to help clients plan for the future.
Currently, if a person needs care, they can either directly buy the care they want from a provider – a care home or home care support services – or they can approach their local authority who will undertake a needs and a financial means test to see if they are eligible for public-funded care.
Under means-testing rules, if a person has assets or savings that exceed £23,250 they are not eligible for any state support.
Additionally, if they have between £14,250 and £23,250 of assets or savings, there is a sliding scale where they may be eligible for some funded care.
Below £14,250 they can access funding for all their care. These thresholds have not changed since 2010.
As Natasha Curry, deputy director of policy at health think tank Nuffield Trust, explains further, even if an individual falls below that lower threshold in terms of assets and savings, they may still have to contribute to their care costs from any income they earn.
In addition to the financial means test, they have to undergo a needs assessment. Councils have some discretion over how severe someone’s needs have to be before they fund care.
“So, even if you fall below the lower financial threshold, you may still not be eligible for care if your needs are deemed to be too low,” Curry adds.
“Councils are meant to fund people with moderate or severe needs, but what that means in reality is open to some interpretation. Furthermore, the council may agree to pay for all your care but define a package of care that is limited, so may leave the person with unmet needs.”
It is estimated that one in seven people face lifetime care costs in excess of £100,000. And there is currently no limit to the costs they could face over your lifetime.
The cost of care varies enormously by: setting – residential, at home or other; intensity of need; and by locality. Care costs are also affected by the supply of staff, providers and things like rurality, as well as how much funding a council can raise locally.
It also depends on who is paying; local authorities tend to pay lower rates than private individuals who self-fund – the difference can be 40 per cent.
Curry says: “This is because local authority budgets have been cut and they can’t pay providers the full cost of care, so providers often choose to pass those costs on to self-funders to stabilise their business.
“Average weekly cost of residential care for self-funders is £1,160 and for nursing care is £1,410. Home care will be dependent upon how many hours a person needs.”
