The BBC is going big on long-term care this week, with the launch of a new care calculator and research showing a big cut to care spending.
According to the BBC and its cost of care project, spending on care for older people has been cut by a fifth over the course of the past decade.
The research, which is based on official data, shows care spending for people aged 65 and over has fallen from £1,188 per person in 2004 to £951 in 2014.
This spending refers to a wide range of items, from occasionally domiciliary care at home to full-time care in nursing homes.
Around 420,000 people currently live in residential care and nursing homes in the UK, in many cases paying for their own care costs within a means tested system.
An additional 1 million people over 65 receive care in their own homes and 1.5 million more people rely on informal care from family and friends.
With an ageing population in the UK, the cost and burden of care is becoming an increasingly important topic.
It was interesting to use the BBC care calculator to see the weekly average rate for Surrey County Council is £687.26 for residential care. This includes £230 weekly living costs, at 2013-14 prices.
The average is £248.28 a week for domiciliary care at home in Surrey
Moving on to use the BBC care calculator to see what the impact of the new rules from April 2016 might be, and considering a single person living in the GU6 postcode area with an average value three bedroom house (£475,800), £200,000 in other assets such as savings, and net income of £540 per week from pensions and State benefits; the BBC calculator suggests an individual might pay £108,000 over the course of three years before reaching the new cap on care costs.
They estimate that, based on these assets and this level of income, the individual would not receive any local authority assistance before reaching this lifetime cap.
The reason for this £108,000 cost is that living costs (so-called ‘hotel costs’) will not count towards the new lifetime cap. This makes the true level of the cap far higher than the published £72,000 being introduced in April 2016.
One the cap has been reached, the individual in this example would still be liable to pay living costs at an estimated £230 a week.
The BBC care calculator at www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30990913 is worth exploring to understand more about the cost of care, now and in the future once the new legislation is applied.
Do get in touch if you have any questions about the cost of care in Surrey and how to best plan for this expense in later life.
