Care Policy Welcome

But needs honesty on real costs

Andrew George – MP for the West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly constituency of St Ives and member of the Health Select Committee – welcomed today’s statement from the Government which will introduce a new £75,000 cap on “care” costs for those in need of long-term care.  The policy will prove very important in Cornwall and Scilly where many people end up property rich but income poor.

However, he also called on the Government to be honest about the real costs when everything was taken into account.

Mr George said, “When people plan for the worst case scenario – needing high levels of care for long periods – they should be fully aware that the costs may be a great deal more than £75,000.  As people would still have to pay for their ‘board and lodging’ costs in a residential nursing/care home the eventual bill could be more than twice the (£75,000) cap!

“Raising the eligibility threshold for free care from the present £23,500 of assets to £123,000 will be particularly welcome.

“I hope that the Government will look at ways of introducing the new care policy before 2017,” said Mr George.