Please can you provide clarification of the following point in the notes. ch5, p27 states: "In England, other benefits are means tested and there has been pressure to LOWER (emphasis added) the thresholds so that those above will have sufficient assets to meet the costs of care for the remainder of their lives." I don't understand why lowering the thresholds will assist individuals, since wouldn't this result in more personal assets having to be spent on care costs before being eligible for state assistance? One of the Dilnot Commission proposals was to RAISE the threshold to £100k (from the present £23k). Am I missing something or should the paragraph above also refer to raising the threshold, rather than lowering it? Thanks.
Richard This is talking about reducing the amount individuals contribute towards their care costs, particuarly if they have lower assets. This is what the Dilnot report suggested introducing. At the moment, as you say, individuals with assets greater than approx £23k generally fund their own costs of care. There is no upper limit on what an individual pays for care. The Dilnot report is suggesting capping contributions at £35k (so anyone will pay a maximum of £35k for care). The proposals also said that if you had less than £100k of assets, this £35k value would be reduced - so you would have to pay less towards your care costs. The new proposals would work quite differently to the existing State provision. Obviously at the moment none of this is definite and what will actually be introduced and what the limits will be is very much up for debate! The wording here is a bit confusing and I'll make a note to review it for next year. Hope this helps Sarah
