New care costs plans aimed at elderly

15/06/2009

Brits could soon see the roll-out of a new "care home insurance" scheme from the government.

A one-off payment of £10-12,000 - taken from an elderly person's estate when they die - would be used to cover nursing home costs under the plan, the Observer reports.

Polls taken by the government suggest that around four in five people would be in favour of such a scheme - which could be announced in a policy paper this month.

However, others could potentially see it as a "stealth tax".

At the moment, the system works through the state paying for care home costs of only the poorest Brits - with the others being forced to fund them out of their own pockets.

Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt told the newspaper: "I have always thought people would be willing to trade a certain amount of inheritance tax for the reassurance of knowing that their elderly parent was going to be looked after free of charge."

Tags; Retirement Money Problems,

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