Care Home Fees ...

[sunny-dave]

There are many, many threads on here asking for advice about how to avoid/recover care home fees - very often involving protecting property assets from being sold or having a charge against them.

I tend to take a different view that, whilst the medical and nursing elements of fees should always be paid by the state, the accommodation and 'hotel' costs of living in a care home should be paid by the individual - either from income or from a subsequent disposal of assets (possibly many years later after the death of a spouse/partner).

I'm aware that this (yet again) will penalise those who have been prudent and accumulated assets - whilst the indigent/spendthrift will inevitably be fully funded by the state. Perhaps there needs to be a two tier care system for the elderly - where those who can pay a contribution get a better standard of care than those who can't/won't ?

But essentially I am asking ...

* Is it wrong to require someone to pay for the social (as opposed to medical) elements of their care if they can ?

* Why should a family expect to preserve/inherit all the assets ?

[ummmm]

My grandad pays for both his nursing home and nans care home...which isn't cheap.

I think he/they do get treated better because of it.

I've not heard any family member moaning about the fact that it's eating up the inheritance. The only sad thing is that it's upset him. He's worked hard all his life, saved just as hard, and he's upset that he can't leave his kids the amount he'd intended.

[sunny-dave]

Same with elderly relatives of mine - they pay their full fees, get decent care and none of us would ever expect to inherit a penny.

[ummmm]

I don't think my grandad expected to live this long.

[tamborine]

My mother died at home, I cared for her & inherited her property; same with my OH.

Cousins didn't want to care for aunt & put her in home. Aunts home funded her costs; much to disgust of cousins.

[ummmm]

It depends what's wrong with them. It's very hard to care for a dementia sufferer at home. Especially one that is otherwise healthy.

[hc4361]

I agree entirely.

[tamborine]

Both mine had dementia. I employed home care, as necessary.

[FredPuli43]

In an ideal world , a person who was entitled to NHS care ,in hospital and generally, would be entitled to NHS funded care when they have to go into a care home.
It is not logical for care and treatment, which was meant to be free at point of delivery from cradle to grave, should be terminated the moment that the NHS removes someone from a geriatric ward and they are transferred to a care home. That they need such care,at any time, which is not available at home or is best, or of necessity, provided by professionals, should be decisive.
How much would it cost the NHS to extend care and treatment in that way?

[ubasses]

Fully agree, my Mum has been in Care Home for 5 years now and receiveds excellent care, better than I could give her. The part I object to is that Homes have to accept a certain number of social service residents and everybody elses fees are higher to make up the difference.
On Freds point, when they are discharged to Care Home it is because they no longer need NHS services, just looking after as they can no longer manage day to day tasks. If they require NHS services they still receive doctors and nursing visits free and if they have to go into hospital there is no difference. Those that still need medical care go into a Nursing Home where they receive NHS funding to cover that side of things. It used to be about £110 per week when my MIL was in one.

[sunny-dave]

If you read my full post Kay, you will see that I am not in any way suggesting that your father's care should not be fully funded.

I am specifically talking about social care costs rather than medical costs. Obviously anyone ill enough to be sectioned should be cared for by the NHS at public cost.

[hc4361]

Sharma, if that person has been living alone before going in to residential care, they no longer need the house and it is an asset they have.
Why shouldn't such people pay?

[Graham-W]

The NHS was started in 1948 on the premise we would be taken care of "from the cradle to the grave". It was to provide provided a wide range of medical services to the public, including: hospital and specialist services, general practitioner (medical, dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical) services, ambulance services and community health services.
Access to these was to be free of charge for UK residents.
The dental, ophthalmic and pharmaceutical elements have all, now, been eroded and are at some cost to the patients. Community health is also not free to all.
I have paid National Insurance all my working life to provide all these services. Perhaps it would have been better for me to decline the National Insurance and pay into Private Health Insurance instead.