Ex-pensions minister urges tax breaks to incentivise saving for social care

The Government should provide tax breaks to encourage people to save to pay for the costs of social care, a former pensions minister has said.

Baroness Altmann (pictured), who was a minister under David Cameron, has warned that millions of people are unprepared to pick up the bill if they are unable to look after themselves.

She said there was currently nothing in the system to incentivise people to put money aside to cover the care costs and she warned that if ministers failed to act the burden would ultimately fall on the NHS.

“The problem we have is our system is so broken, nobody actually knows or understands properly what the state will cover and what they need to do for themselves because the system is a bit of a lottery,” she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

“At the moment the NHS may pick up all your care or none depending on what’s wrong with you rather than helping people plan ahead because millions of families will not get help from the state.

“There is billions of pounds spent on helping people provide pensions for themselves, which of course is important, but there is nothing that will signal to families that actually they also need potentially to have a fund – let’s say a few tens of thousands of pounds – for social care.

“What we need to do is have a national plan which integrates health and social care so people understand what they will need to pay for and then incentivises those who could to save for social care.”

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