Theresa May warned over plans for £100,000 cap on care costs - Alzheimer's Society comment
The Prime Minister has been warned by her Health Secretary that plans for a £100,000 care cap will cost billions and lead to significant tax rises, it was reported today.
Matt Hancock told Theresa May in a leaked letter that he is "concerned" that the cap - which he says could cost up to £3.4billion - is being included in a Green Paper on adult social care, due to be published within weeks.
Sally Copley, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “A £100k cap on costs is not a solution to the social care crisis we are facing; our calculations show even a lower cap of £80k would at most only help 5% of people with dementia. Through our Fix Dementia Care campaign we hear from families who can’t begin to cover the catastrophic social care fees - others are cutting back on essentials like food and heating or selling their homes.
“What’s urgently needed is an NHS Dementia Fund, to cover the extra costs people are charged for their specialist care, while the Government plans bold reform and significant investment for a proper long term solution to protect and support people. Someone in the UK develops dementia every three minutes, and every day we wait for the long overdue Green Paper is another day that these people are enduring injustice.”
