Pay for NHS treatment to offset social care costs, think tank

By The Press Association4th March 2015News EnglandBusiness / Funding / Finance, Finance, News England, NHS, Social Care

Making people pay towards their NHS treatment could be used to reduce pressure on funding for social care, a report suggests.

Having to contribute financially would also provide a “nudge” to the public to lead healthier lifestyles, think tank the Social Market Foundation (SMF) said.

It has put forward a proposal to introduce Personal Care Accounts, where both the individual and the state contribute towards the costs of NHS and social care treatments.

The report outlines how people would make payments for their treatment set at a small percentage of the actual cost of care.

These payments would be capped each year and over an individual’s total lifetime, with the state funding the remaining costs.

But those on low incomes or with low levels of wealth would be exempt, the SMF said.

The think tank said its plans would redistribute the costs of social care more fairly across the population and fund a £12 billion funding gap in health and social care services by 2020.

SMF research director and the report’s author, Nigel Keohane, said: “The UK’s current care system imposes many costs on the individual but they are spread very unevenly and haphazardly across different aspects of care (social care, dental care, optometry and prescriptions).

“This is unfair, illogical and inefficient, and people face markedly differing costs and experiences simply because of the nature of their condition: have a broken leg and be dealt with for free; have dementia and face care costs into the tens of thousands.

“There is little point talking about integrated care unless we address this huge anomaly. A Personal Care Account would spread the private costs that currently apply in care more evenly across society and would make the system fairer. By broadening the number of contributors and making the costs more transparent, the scheme would also boost the sustainability of funding into the future.”

Putting Patients in Charge: The future of health and social care also recommends all areas follow the example set by Greater Manchester, which is now able to make its own decisions on health and social care following a landmark agreement last week to devolve £6 billion a year of health spending.

The paper also argues that NHS England should seek to promote innovative commissioning approaches and promote the role that the market can play in delivering integrated care.