Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb, and Director General of the Association of British Insurers, Otto Thoresen, have signed a joint ‘statement of intent’ committing to work together to improve access to financial information and promote a wider choice of financial products for people planning care for themselves and their loved ones.
The Government's funding reforms seek to promote clarity, choice and peace of mind for people concerned about how to meet their own care costs. The reforms already announced include a cap on the cost of care to protect people from unlimited bills and deferred payments to avoid the need to sell a person's home to fund their own care.
Share your opinions of the document using the comments function below. Do you feel heartened by this declaration or do you have other ideas or concerns about the future of care funding in this country? Join the conversation!
5 comments
Comment by Lynda posted on
Another opportunity for insurance companies to make money - that's if "Joe Public" can afford to pay the premiums to provide for care in their old age - which seems unlikely. At the present time there are many that struggle to pay for their day to day living expenses and hence they are unlikely to be able to find the extra cash that will be needed to pay the premiums to insurance companies so that they can pay out in the event of a claim.
Comment by Alan Alexander posted on
More phantasy, look at the returns on annuitiescurrently at about 5%. you'd need hundreds of thousands in an insurance pot to cover the annual tens of thousands you'd need in a home.
Comment by Nancy Clark posted on
I would like to know what the options are for people who are unable to fund themselves and their families?
Are there plans afoot to build new workhouses? Bearing in mind most of the existing (or recently sold off sites) had evolved from previous institutions. Not only would this offer further employment opportunities within the financial services (who's reputation goes before them) but also offers a wide range of employment opportunities for the building sector. This would probably go into the thinking outside of the box descriptor.
Or - Would this therefore be left to the third sector, charities and other philanthropic institutions to cover this potentially large gap in service provision? I am unclear on this and would really appreciate some feedback. I do however, tend to disagree with Dave when he has stated on many occassions that we are all in this together. Given a choice I would rather be in his boat, and those of the other millionaires, but this is pragmatically unlikely, having worked in the public sector for many, many years.
Comment by doug forbes posted on
If the self funders participate, then the scale and risk of the challenge of the Care Bill accelerates perhaps beyond the capacity of an average adult social care department. We foresee a need for Care Management Organisations which have a new culture handling the Care Account plus Assessment and Care Management.
Comment by Jenni Brighton posted on
advant~age whole-heartedly supports this statement of intent and are pleased to announce that they are working with Co-operative Wealth to produce a new service available via the Voluntary Sector to provide a comprehensive and vetted solution that will appeal to both local government and individuals. http://www.advant-age.co.uk