Dementia Support Line
Laing Buisson proposes solution for funding social care - Alzheimer's Society comments
Leading health economist, William Laing, has today published his proposal for a long-term solution for funding social care.
The ‘Personal Asset Protection Guarantee’ (PAPG) White Paper outlines a scheme in which individuals needing residential care in later life are guaranteed to keep about three-quarters of their personal assets.
The PAPG would offer an initial assessment for individuals in need of residential care. Their eligibility for council-funded support would then be calculated in terms of the percentage of the individual's assets that has been spent down since the initial assessment.
Nicola O'Brien, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Alzheimer's Society, said:
“The current system has no parameters in place to prevent vulnerable people with dementia facing astronomical care bills.
The husband and wife forced to pay over £370,000 because one of them is unlucky enough to get dementia are not alone. They and so many others like them should not be the principle victims of a social care system that is not fit for purpose.
“The Government consultation must seriously consider these and other innovative options for social care reform as part of its consultation. And most importantly they must listen to the people with dementia who are living in terror of spending all they have on care.”
