A PERSON who divests themselves of assets in the five years before they enter nursing home care will have the value of those taken into account when applying for support under the new Fair Deal scheme, it was confirmed yesterday.
Under the scheme, which will come into effect on October 27th, replacing the old system of nursing home subventions, people going into public or private nursing homes will have to undergo a rigorous financial assessment as well as a care-needs assessment to determine if they need long-term care at all.
The financial assessment will determine the amount they should have to contribute towards the cost of their care.
Each applicant will have to provide details of their cash assets, including savings or shares, as well as details of fixed assets such as their home, land or business.
For a couple, the first €72,000 in their savings will be disregarded and they will then be required to contribute 80 per cent of their disposable income towards the cost of their care, plus 5 per cent of the value of any assets they have.
Where assets include property, the 5 per cent contribution based on these assets can be deferred and collected from the person’s estate after death.
The 5 per cent charge on the home would be levied for a maximum of three years.
Minister for Health Mary Harney stressed nobody would have to pay more than the actual cost of their care. She said the new system was a fairer one and would end the pressure on families to fund the care themselves of a relative in a nursing home.
The HSE is to be provided with a set level of funding to operate the scheme each year. It has been given €55 million for the introduction of Fair Deal this year but the Department of Health said the amount of funding available for 2010 “will be decided by Government in the context of the forthcoming budget and estimates process”.
The department’s information booklet on the new scheme states “while it is hoped that there would be sufficient funding to support everyone, there may be situations where a person’s name must go on to a waiting list until funding becomes available”.
Age Action Ireland expressed concern about the possibility of waiting lists.
Its spokesman, Eamon Timmins, said if people had to pay the full cost of a private nursing home bed while on the waiting list for Fair Deal, they could end up worse off than families who can currently avail of subvention if they fail to get a public bed.