Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured last week in Downing Street) has endorsed proposals for every adult in England to pay into a second ‘pension’ that will be used for funding their old age care
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has endorsed proposals for every adult in England to pay into a second ‘pension’ that will be used for funding their old age care.
Mr Hancock said he wants people take more ‘personal responsibility’ for their health and care by regularly saving from their salary.
He said people could be automatically enrolled – in a system similar to workplace pensions – but those who did not wish to contribute would be able to opt out.
The idea is the first from a major policy paper on overhauling social care that is due to be finally published within weeks. The so-called ‘green paper’ will include a range of options for consultation and may not make a specific recommendation.
Mr Hancock told the Daily Telegraph there was a need for a new funding system due to the increasing number of elderly people requiring care.
A national system would offer individuals more security, removing the fear of facing catastrophic costs that could wipe out savings or force them to sell their homes, he told the newspaper.
Backing the auto-enrolment model, the Health Secretary said: ‘I’m attracted to the model of auto-enrolment, which has been so successful in pensions.
‘If you make it the norm, tell people what it is they have to do to look after themselves, it’s often the case that very few people will opt out.
‘It takes away the injustice of people losing all that they have saved for.’
Mr Hancock said he wants people take more ‘personal responsibility’ for their health and care by regularly saving from their salary (file image posed by models)
Those who opt out would still face care bills in the future meaning they would face the same choices over selling their home, as today.
Previous proposals for an overhaul of care funding as part of Theresa May’s ill-fated 2017 general election manifesto – which proposed taking money retrospectively from people’s assets to fund home care – was nicknamed a ‘dementia tax’.
Since auto-enrolment was introduced for workplace pensions in 2012, the number of workers with a pension has almost doubled to 93 per cent.
Under current arrangements, elderly people who end up in residential care face losing all savings and assets down to their last £23,500.
There has also been concern about a huge funding shortage for local council care services.
In August, a report by the Local Government Association estimated there would be a £3.5 million funding gap for adult social care services by 2025.
Previous proposals for an overhaul of care funding as part of Theresa May’s (pictured yesterday in Maidenhead) ill-fated 2017 general election manifesto was nicknamed a ‘dementia tax’