Individuals could be expected to pay into social care fund
19 September 2018
The Health Secretary has announced that as part of a forthcoming paper on social care, an opt-out proposal akin to auto-enrolment would mean every adult in England would be expected to pay into a national fund to cover their care in later life.
The disclosure was reported by The Telegraph who said that Matt Hancock, who became the Health and Social Care Secretary in July, told the paper that the opt-out proposal, modelled on the pensions scheme, would see people taking more personal responsibility for their health.
According to the FTAdviser, if such a policy was introduced, individuals would have to actively choose not to make payments to the social care fund akin to pensions auto-enrolment. The Health Secretary is reported to have 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."
FTAdviser reported last week the government is planning to propose a new cap to fund social care in its upcoming green paper. At a hearing in front of the economic affairs committee in the House of Lords on 11 September, Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond said the green paper would set out several proposals to reflect different ways of delivering and funding the cap.
In the meantime, the House of Lords launched an inquiry into social care funding.