Report
Options for care funding: What could be done now?
Changes that can be made immediately to improve the UK's care funding system.
Many experts, the public and the Government agree that the UK needs a new care funding system: evidence shows that the present system is unfair, unclear and unsustainable. This summary updates a Solutions produced in 2007, and suggests four costed, fairer and more sustainable methods of funding including:
- equity release, allowing older homeowners to pay for home-based care by deferring the costs until their home is sold;
- higher capital limits for care home fees to help those with modest assets;
- doubling the personal expenses allowance for people living in care homes supported by local authorities; and
- restructuring help for people in nursing homes, breaking down the barrier between health and social care.