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One in four pensioners whose care home place is supposed to be funded by state forced to pay top-up fees, report finds

Care home - © Rosemary Roberts / Alamy Stock Photo
Care home - © Rosemary Roberts / Alamy Stock Photo

One in four pensioners whose care is supposed to be fully funded by the state are being forced to pay top-up fees to access adequate care, a report has found.

More than 48,000 people entitled to free care home places are being forced to contribute to their care costs, Age UK claims, with new research uncovering a web of hidden charges faced by Britain’s elderly.

Published today, the report warns that means-tested payments by the Government are inadequate and fail to cover the mounting costs charged by care homes, forcing many to dig into their own savings or turn to relatives for assistance.

It found that across the UK approximately 24 per cent of all council-funded pensioners are paying top up fees ranging from £25 a week to more than £100 per week in some cases.

It adds that the current means of assessing whether pensioners qualify for free places is “wretchedly mean”, and should be changed so that funding better reflects the “basis of their needs”.

In a nutshell | How care home funding works
In a nutshell | How care home funding works

The disparity has been dubbed a “stealth tax” by campaigners, who have urged ministers to intervene and redress a care system “riddled with hidden unfairness”.

It follows a series of freedom of information requests published in recent years, showing that home care services are becoming more expensive, with fees varying wildly depending on the local authority.

And last year, a similar study found that middle class pensioners with assets totalling more than £23,000 and who are required to “self-fund”, are paying up to £10,000 a year for than councils pay for the same places.

Commenting, Stephen Burke, director of the Good Care Guide, said: “These hidden charges are another example of the stealth tax on care that older people and their families are being asked to pay.

care home
care home

"Responsibility for paying for care is increasingly being shifted from the state to those needing care. It’s particularly unfair on those older people who happen to have dementia for example. Older people and their families should get advice on their rights and entitlements when choosing and paying for care.  

“This shows why we need urgent and fundamental reform of the care system. The government must lead on creating a care system that is simpler, fairer and sustainable. That will require a new vision for care and support and substantially more funding from government to meet the needs of our ageing population.”

The report, entitled ‘Behind the Headlines’ notes that elderly persons requiring residential care "should be able to qualify for council funded care on the basis of their needs but...significant numbers fall foul of it, disqualifying them from financial help until they have run down their assets to £23,250".

Age UK says it has dealt with more than 250 cases in the past year alone, with many families feeling they had "no real option but to pay a top up to secure a care home place for their loved one that they feel is acceptable".

What to look for | When choosing a care home
What to look for | When choosing a care home

“Against the context of a care system that is woefully underfunded, in which councils are struggling to fulfil their legal duties and many care homes find it tremendously hard to provide decent care for older people on council rates, top ups are at risk of being unfairly exploited, with families the biggest losers,” it continues.

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK's charity director said: "Families are finding themselves in horrible situations, such as knowing that unless they pay up their older relative will have to live in a care home that is so far away they will be cut off from everyone they know.

"In some cases families are being asked to pay a lot more than they can afford and in others we have heard of families under pressure not to dispute an unfair request for a 'top up', when their loved one is in hospital and ready to leave, because otherwise it would take even longer for them to be discharged."

The charity is also urging families to understand their legal rights, with many unaware that they may be able to challenge a care home for a top up that is unfairly charged.