A leading charity is urging candidates in next week’s General Election to help make the UK a great place to grow older.
Age UK is asking people to contact their prospective MPs urging them to become Age Champions and speak out for older people.
The Government is proposing a new funding system for social care, but Age UK is asking whether the new system will be fair.
A spokesman said: “As we get older, many of us will need some help from social care, but people who need to pay for care in later life often have little protection from catastrophic costs.
“Some people living with long term conditions like Alzheimer’s disease can need care and support for decades – at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds.”
The Government plans to change things so that people will not lose all of their savings and assets.
The Government has proposed to set a lifetime cap on care costs of £72,000, due to come into effect in April 2016.
The Age UK spokesman added: “The idea is that once you reach the cap, the Government will take over your care payments.
“You will also be able to qualify for some support if you have savings – up to £27,000 for people living at home and £118,000 for people living in residential care.
“These caps are substantially higher than the current threshold, and aim to protect people against having to spend everything they have on care.
“Although this seems fairer, unfortunately the system is flawed.”
The reasons Age UK believe the system is flawed include:
lOnly support deemed necessary by your local authority will count towards the cap, and only at the rate the local authority would be prepared to pay
lYou will be responsible for any “extra” care costs (for example, if you choose a more expensive care option).
lIf you are in residential care, such as a care home, you will be responsible for your own general living costs (such as food and board), which won’t count towards the cap.
lEven once you reach the cap, the extra care costs and the daily living costs will still have to be paid. Also, money spent before the cap comes into force in April 2016 won’t be counted towards the cap.
The spokesman added: “The Government has just ended its consultation on how the cap will work in practice, and the Department of Health will issue their response after the General Election.
“In the meantime, we want to ensure that politicians take action to make the UK a great place to grow older.
“Politicians need to prepare the UK for our ageing society, and enable all older people to live well, both today and in the future.
“Go to the General Election area of our website at www.ageuk.org.uk/general-election-2015/ and use our form to ask your prospective parliamentary candidate to become an Age Champion.
“You’ll see we’ve automatically added our key priorities, but you will be able to review and edit the message before you send it to your candidates.”
