Scottish care home residents will no longer be able to claim attendance allowance
Elderly people needing long term care in Scotland may not receive as much State support as they initially thought, following the Government's decision to scrap Attendance Allowance (AA) for residents in Scottish care homes.
The decision follows news that the Scottish Executive has finally passed the Community Care and Health Bill that will entitle elderly patients to free nursing and personal care north of the border.
The Bill means that those eligible for help will be entitled to £145 a week to pay for personal care and £65 a week for nursing care.
However, the Government has ruled that those living in a nursing home and claiming both nursing and personal care will no longer be entitled to AA ' currently standing at £37 for lower band and £55.30 for higher band claimants.
Owain Wright, head of long-term care at The Care Funding Bureau, said: 'When the English Government said it would be unable to pay for personal care, Scotland said it could. Westminster is therefore refusing to provide AA to supplement those already receiving funds from the State. This means people in Scotland may not be getting as good a deal as they first thought.'
The decision to scrap AA has prompted the Scottish Executive to increase personal care allowance from its original £90 to its current figure of £145. According to Chris Ellicott, technical manager at Age Concern Financial Partnerships, this should sufficiently compensate those who will no longer be entitled to the benefit.
'Some of those who will be entitled to free personal care would arguably not have been entitled to the higher band of AA in the first place, so may even be better off now. The Scottish Executive is doing what it said it would do ' accepting the cost,' he said.
However, Wright said the decision by the Scottish Executive to increase funds is unsustainable and could end in failure.
'The Dutch Government tried a similar scheme that Scotland is introducing ' it lasted between 18 and 24 months before it was ditched because it was not financially viable,' he said.
The Bill also states that people who are cared for at home in Scotland while claiming funds for personal and nursing care will still be able to claim AA. Wright said this could put extra pressure on families to care for their elatives when they could be better off in a home.
'This could result in many elderly people who need nursing care sitting alone in living rooms every day without interaction,' he said.
However, Ellicott said that now the Bill has been passed, long term care insurance (LTCI) should become more affordable for people in Scotland.
'Whatever else, this is great news for the market as LTCI will become a very affordable commodity ' the shortfall from State funding will be relatively small.'
