State-funded care for older people should be paid for via a new social insurance scheme – dubbed the Later Life Care Fund – according to an independent think tank
Adult social care funding should be separated into two pots for working age adults and those in later-life - and be paid for via distinct models, an independent think tank has said.
State funded care for people in later life - defined as those at retirement age or older – should be funded via new social insurance scheme where ‘individuals contribute to a pooled, privately-managed and invested Later Life Care Fund,’ Re:State said in a report published today.
The scheme would be mandatory for people aged 34 and above to ‘contribute 1.8 per cent of their pre-tax income (above a minimum income threshold of £6,240, the lower earnings threshold for pensions auto-enrolment) to the national level Fund, every year until they retire,’ the report said.
It adds that the fund ‘would be invested over time, with an explicit mandate to maximise returns, then used to fund state-funded later-life social care for the contributing cohort’.
People of retirement age or older would receive state-funded social if they passed a local authority needs assessments based on ‘national standards’ and ‘has met the contributory requirements during their working life,’ the report adds.
The report authors’ - Alice Semark and Dr Simon Kaye - call for a new ‘social insurance’ model comes as the Independent Casey Commission on Social Care works towards making recommendations to underpin delivery of the government's National Care Service manifesto commitment.
They say the new model is ‘desperately’ needed as the ‘adult social care system is on the brink of collapse’, and the current funding system is ‘failing’ at ‘every point in the system, and for many involved.’
They write: ‘It is no secret that England’s adult social care system is in crisis. Chronic underfunding, regional disparities, and distributive unfairness plague the system, undermining the accessibility and quality of care services.
‘This crisis is only accelerating in the face of an ageing population and the growing cost of delivering care. Given such enormous complexity, this is a model in need of foundational transformation, not the tweaking of past decades,’ they add.
Commenting on the report, the Social Care Institute for Excellence policy, research, and partnerships director, Deborah Rozansky, who was also interviewed for the report, said it is is a “valuable starting point” and called for the Casey Commission to "fully evaluate all funding options, and embed its findings in a broader, robust plan for change”.
“It is an inescapable truth that we need an open and honest conversation about how we fund our adult social care system. Local authority budgets have not kept pace with demand, and every year, more people are forced to self-fund their care because they are excluded from local authority support. This leaves many without the care and support they need and deserve,” she added.
