Green Paper moots care insurance as future requirement

The government's Green Paper on reform of the care and support system may result in widespread sales of long term care insurance

The paper addresses the fact that the current system will be too expensive in the future and makes various proposals. Everyone would have between a quarter and a third of costs paid by the state but would pay for the rest themselves.

Those less well off would have some, possibly all, paid by the state. Another option is paying into an insurance scheme for costs over those paid by the state. Some could pay a lump sum either on retirement or on death in return for which care costs would be covered by the state.

Age Concern and Help the Aged welcomed proposals for a National Care Service to end postcode lottery and called for attention to providing more preventative care and how the quality of care can be improved.

Michelle Mitchell, director at the charity, said: "With time now short, the Government must set out a clear timetable to move from debating options to agreeing and implementing specific proposals. The opposition parties have rightly criticised the slow progress on care reform but now they too must rise to the challenge by backing government plans or bringing forward their own."

From its insurers perspective, an Aviva statement said: "Our experience is that it is a challenge to persuade people to think about the possibility of needing care. As a result we feel it could be extremely difficult to encourage people to pre-fund for long term care and would caution the Government against over reliance on this form of funding.

"It is therefore important that we look to find a range of flexible solutions to support the future long term care needs of our customers."