I regard all governments as simply being service providers and the price for the services is taxation (whatever the tax is called). With the notable exception of education, neither the citizen or the government knows which needs any individual will present through life until the need arises, hence taxation is firstly levied equally on everyone but then adjusted due to it being used as a wealth distribution tool to bring about more equality - so now people are taxed at different rates. But at this point in the reckoning, nobody is marked as someone who will get more or less service at some point in the future. Then in comes the argument that the mark of a society is how well it looks after its weakest, the morality issue, so now those identified with greater need receive greater consideration.
It seems to me that either a government makes service X available to all or else it decides not to and gives the reason why. On this one (care for the elderly) it appears it is in effect saying that morality has shifted provision of this service onto fewer people but that financing it will be concentrated more toward those who now will not be getting it.
Fewer people being provided for should mean less cost unless either the quality is to be stepped up or else the unit price will be increased (more for those who provide it).
It will be interesting how this plays out in the end. Call it cynical but the suspicion may arise that so far as total effort is concerned, the amount of effort at the government's expense is more likely to be reduced - indeed that is really the aim anyway. There is no suggestion that total taxation is to be reduced. Then, because of the added layer, this will be yet another example of how the measures (monitoring, enforcement, verification of countless regulations, etc.) turn out primarily to be effective in creating jobs for which the public at large pay for, on top of taxation being levied. I am told, by people who can be expected to know, that the UK is prime candidate for the championship for complicated, cumbersome and ineffective/wasteful systems (not least taxation).