When initially proposed the Personal Care Bill was supposed to guarantee free personal care for the 280,000 people – including those with serious dementia or Parkinson’s disease – with the highest needs. Protect the savings of the 166,000 people who currently get free care from future charges and among others it would allow £130 million to be invested in re-ablement and prevention to help people to maintain their dignity and rebuild their confidence so that they can live at home for longer.
We are in a position now where the House of Lords has rejected attempts to delay the Personal Care Bill, Lord Warner has described the Personal Care Bill as seriously flawed and suggested the bill be delayed until the government has completed and published their response to a consultation on it, as it should not progress purely on knee-jerk political campaigning. There are arguments being put forward by local authorities claiming the government pricing of the cost at £250 million is very wrong, as the real costs to local authorities would be in excess £1 billion, funding that is just not available.
As any legislation that is passed will not come into effect October we will have to wait until after the general election. The Conservatives have proposed a different model of funding social care which would work in partnership with the insurance industry.
Only time will tell although change is on the horizon.
Other recent posts include the ins and outs of self employed health insurance and health insurance coverage
