Health Care Insurance Planned for our Seniors

14th July, 2009

The older generations in England could be told to take our health care insurance to pay for their long term care if one idea proposed by ministers comes to fruition. The move is set out in a green paper due on Tuesday on the reform of health care funding for residential and home social care.

The current care structure doesn't require elderly people to have to pay for their own health insurance but it does rely on a means-tested system. This system has widely been attacked due to its unfair nature in deciding who gets health care and who has to fend for themselves.

Under the current health care set up, anyone with a home or savings over £23,500 is not given state funding for a care home or help from social service. The result is that hundreds of thousands of senior citizens are forced to sell their property and other assets in order to fund their basic and vital health care needs.

Health Insurance Payment Options

The proposal is likely to set out a number of payment options - including a series of payment leading up to retirement or a posthumous contribution from the patient's estate. Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, told the BBC that: "...under any of the options we'll be putting forward today that is what would happen. We have got to end the cruel lottery with people selling their homes."

At present, the English and Scottish system differ in that those north of the border are granted free personal care. Although a popular move, this has created a huge cost burden on Scottish resources. The health insurance industry and every senior citizen is waiting to hear the outcome of the green paper but we're likely to be a long way away from any firm conclusions.

Link to this Insurance News Item

Here's a handy little insurance news html snippet which you can put directly into your website or blog to link to this story:

This will appear on your site as follows:
Insurancewide News Story: Health Care Insurance Planned for our Seniors.