Elderly 'Care and Support' to be funded by NI increase

It is possible that the Government will help fund the cost of care for the elderly after the next election by increasing National Insurance contributions. The idea will be controversial, but is designed to help people avoid selling their own homes to cover the costs of care bills when they get old.

The plan has already come under attack, and Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said that it was “an income tax rise by another name”. Instead, Cable suggested, the Prime Minister should cut unnecessary public spending, such as that on the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent, and the reduction of public sector pensions.

A consultation paper called Care and Support will be published by Health Secretary Andy Burnham later in July which will show the Government’s plans for social care provision.

It has been estimated that 30% of people in care homes have to pay their own fees, and the average stay in a home is two years, at around £25,000 a year.

Leaks from the proposed paper indicated that there were plans for a national social care ‘pool’, which would be partly funded by an increase in NI contributions. Gordon Brown increased NI contributions in 2002 to assist NHS spending.

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