Now families face cost-of-CARE crisis as nursing homes hike fees
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Now families are facing a CARE crisis as nursing homes pass on rising prices and staff wages to their residents
Families are heading for a health care cost crisis this winter, as nursing homes pass on rising energy and food prices alongside staff wage increases.
Typical annual fees could quickly rise by 40 per cent from around £25,000 to £35,000 outside London and from £28,575 to £40,000 in the capital, the later website the UK Care Guide warns.
Founder Saq Hussain says that smaller care homes in particular are at risk if mortgage payments continue to rise.
Cost scarcity: Typical nursing home costs could rise 40% from around £25,000 to £35,000 outside London and from £28,575 to £40,000 in the capital, UK Care Guide warns
This is because many smaller care homes are still paying off a mortgage and the costs will soon be passed on to their elderly residents, Hussain warns.
The predicted rise comes amid reports that the government could delay the promised limit on social care by a year, limiting the amount someone will have to pay for their care to £86,000.
The threshold for people to be eligible for support is also expected to rise from £23,250 to £100,000.
But the reforms, due to be introduced in October 2023, could be delayed until 2024.
This delay could add £26,000 to the average amount someone spends on healthcare, according to Aegon’s Money Mail calculations.
The pension and investment firm estimates it will soon cost £104,280 for an average stay of 130 weeks.
Experts warn tens of thousands more people would see their savings wiped out, or forced to sell their homes to pay for care because of the delay – something former Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to “fix”.
About three million older people who based their finances around the cap could see their plans ruined.
Stephen Lowe, of pension specialist Just Group, says: ‘Those who had no choice but to arrange care for loved ones, now have to deal with the ticking meter of healthcare costs.’
Professor Martin Green, the director of the charity Care England, says: ‘There is a crisis in the healthcare sector and costs are spiraling out of control.
“Unless we get a long-term financing solution, many services will close, putting such a strain on the NHS that it will be brought to its knees.”
t.armstrong@dailymail.co.uk