Azheimer's disease - funding for care
Discussion
Around five years ago my mum was unfortunately diagnosed with early onset of alzheimer's disease. She's now just turned 60 so was diagnosed at a young age. Shortly after the diagnosis she had to give up work which consisted of two fairly low paid jobs.
She lives alone but has a great network of friends and family who support daily.
The local authority have carried out varying assessments over the years and home care has been introduced, largely funded by the authority. A very small contribution to the care is taken from her allowance as the outcome of the assessment deemed her able to contribute. Currently there are two visits a day which help with preparing meals, washing and the basics.
Income is made up of disability benefits which make up roughly around £140 p/w.
The ability to cope and live alone is rapidly reducing and her condition is without a doubt worsening as time goes on. It's the family's general opinion that it's likely within the next twelve months, at the current rate of detioration, that she will need full time care of some sort.
I share both joint medical and financial power of attorney with another family member. Before I go on it's important to say that I have absolutely no interest in inheritence, and nothing I'm asking here is motivated by wanting any personal financial gain. I'd rather inherit nothing and ensure the best level of care is given and and quality of life is as good as can be. This is something I've said from day one and is still as important as ever now. At the time of writing her will, shortly after the diagnosis, I voluntarily cut my share of inheritence to ensure another family member who's not had the best start in life will receive something.
I'm looking for some guidance around how funding works as there's so much conflicting information out there.
Her only assest is her home which is probably worth around £140K. Her work's pension is worth pennies and she's £1K in savings.
We've found a couple of local care homes and sheltered accommodation which look decent.
Given the care costs, no liquid assets and a very limited income from benefits which won't nearly cover the cost of full time care, and totally conflicting information, I'm at a loss with what to and how it all works.
It'd be great to hear any real life experiences and advice with what to do next.
Thanks in advance.
She lives alone but has a great network of friends and family who support daily.
The local authority have carried out varying assessments over the years and home care has been introduced, largely funded by the authority. A very small contribution to the care is taken from her allowance as the outcome of the assessment deemed her able to contribute. Currently there are two visits a day which help with preparing meals, washing and the basics.
Income is made up of disability benefits which make up roughly around £140 p/w.
The ability to cope and live alone is rapidly reducing and her condition is without a doubt worsening as time goes on. It's the family's general opinion that it's likely within the next twelve months, at the current rate of detioration, that she will need full time care of some sort.
I share both joint medical and financial power of attorney with another family member. Before I go on it's important to say that I have absolutely no interest in inheritence, and nothing I'm asking here is motivated by wanting any personal financial gain. I'd rather inherit nothing and ensure the best level of care is given and and quality of life is as good as can be. This is something I've said from day one and is still as important as ever now. At the time of writing her will, shortly after the diagnosis, I voluntarily cut my share of inheritence to ensure another family member who's not had the best start in life will receive something.
I'm looking for some guidance around how funding works as there's so much conflicting information out there.
Her only assest is her home which is probably worth around £140K. Her work's pension is worth pennies and she's £1K in savings.
We've found a couple of local care homes and sheltered accommodation which look decent.
Given the care costs, no liquid assets and a very limited income from benefits which won't nearly cover the cost of full time care, and totally conflicting information, I'm at a loss with what to and how it all works.
It'd be great to hear any real life experiences and advice with what to do next.
Thanks in advance.
Similar experience here. My father went into a care home when he got to a stage where he needed watched 24hrs. Like the previous poster I'd recommend shopping around for a home. Not just because you want to get a good one but the requirements are individual. We picked one not only because it gave good care but the setting was in nice gardens where my dad could still watch birds, his hobby. As far as the financials went I paid a weekly top up fee of £25 and the local authority took care of the rest. We also provided little extras like a comfy recliner and a fridge for his room stocked with coke and lollies (no hookers). His pension wasn't touched as it was still supporting my mother and he only lasted 6 months they decided not to come after equity from their home even though my mum down sized not long after. Depending on the authority and the length of care they will start looking for assets to fund the care. If she lives alone now this may happen sooner. My parents had planned for it with powers of attorney and becoming "tenants in common" so they could only go after dad's half but it didn't come to that after their assessment.
thenortherner said:
She lives alone
Her only assest is her home which is probably worth around £140K.
And that, of course, is the answer...Her only assest is her home which is probably worth around £140K.
If she has over £24k in assets, she totally self-funds.
If she has less than £14k, then the local authority pay (up to a set amount).
Between those figures, the amount she contributes varies according to how much she has.
BTW, come on over to the big Alz thread... There's a lot of it about.
TooMany2cvs said:
And that, of course, is the answer...
If she has over £24k in assets, she totally self-funds.
If she has less than £14k, then the local authority pay (up to a set amount).
Between those figures, the amount she contributes varies according to how much she has.
BTW, come on over to the big Alz thread... There's a lot of it about.
Correct. Went through exactly this with both parents: first for Alzheimers with my father (around 2001/2002), then general care with my mother (2016/2017). If she has over £24k in assets, she totally self-funds.
If she has less than £14k, then the local authority pay (up to a set amount).
Between those figures, the amount she contributes varies according to how much she has.
BTW, come on over to the big Alz thread... There's a lot of it about.
There is one other possible solution: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20032/legal_and...
where the NHS COULD fund continuing care, but you'll find in practice that it's rarely, if ever, granted. I'd say it's worth making an application, because you never know, but don't get your hopes up, as the NHS simply can't afford to make these grants as a matter of course.
Also, agree 100% with the above comments about searching carefully for the right care home: they vary as much as the needs of their patients.
Best wishes OP: it's a hideous illness, but I found the people involved at both the care homes & the local authority were exceptionally professional & supportive. CF
CardinalFang said:
TooMany2cvs said:
And that, of course, is the answer...
If she has over £24k in assets, she totally self-funds.
If she has less than £14k, then the local authority pay (up to a set amount).
Between those figures, the amount she contributes varies according to how much she has.
BTW, come on over to the big Alz thread... There's a lot of it about.
Correct. Went through exactly this with both parents: first for Alzheimers with my father (around 2001/2002), then general care with my mother (2016/2017). If she has over £24k in assets, she totally self-funds.
If she has less than £14k, then the local authority pay (up to a set amount).
Between those figures, the amount she contributes varies according to how much she has.
BTW, come on over to the big Alz thread... There's a lot of it about.
There is one other possible solution: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20032/legal_and...
where the NHS COULD fund continuing care, but you'll find in practice that it's rarely, if ever, granted. I'd say it's worth making an application, because you never know, but don't get your hopes up, as the NHS simply can't afford to make these grants as a matter of course.
Also, agree 100% with the above comments about searching carefully for the right care home: they vary as much as the needs of their patients.
Best wishes OP: it's a hideous illness, but I found the people involved at both the care homes & the local authority were exceptionally professional & supportive. CF
It's not easy to get full funding, but it is possible.
WinstonWolf said:
Not quite, if the disease is advanced the patient can qualify for full funding, however the patient needs to be *exceptionally* advanced for this to fall into place.
It's not easy to get full funding, but it is possible.
Yep, fair point WW - sloppy answer on my part. I was going back a few years into the memory banks & my inner cynic surfaced. Chs, CF.It's not easy to get full funding, but it is possible.
Funding comes down to whether there is a primary health need, control or prevention of a disease, illness, injury or disability. It's all a pretty grey area to be honest. My dad had vascular dementia and was very unpredictable. He had several extended stays at the local Mental Hospital when we could no longer deal with him at home. They eventually told us he needed a team of people to look after him, they even struggled at the unit and had to replace most door handles once he left as he pulled many of them off - he didn't sit still much, could be on the go for several days without sleep!
They decided his primary care need was a health need so was fully funded even with a 1 to 1 carer 24 hours a day ( we caught the care home not doing this on quite a few occasions though ). There were also only a couple of homes in the area that could deal with his needs so we had little choice, it wasn't great but my Mum went most days and stayed on their case as much as she could. He did a pretty good job of trashing their lift and any cabling that looked remotely loose, he was physically very strong and scary and strangely lucid when angry.
He passed away a few years ago but my father in law has now been diagnosed, he's a fair bit older and so far it's a very different experience, he's very benign and accepting enough to go on a study program with scans and tests, my dad would have been breaking heads if we'd even suggested that.
It's a crappy way for a family to watch their loved ones go.
They decided his primary care need was a health need so was fully funded even with a 1 to 1 carer 24 hours a day ( we caught the care home not doing this on quite a few occasions though ). There were also only a couple of homes in the area that could deal with his needs so we had little choice, it wasn't great but my Mum went most days and stayed on their case as much as she could. He did a pretty good job of trashing their lift and any cabling that looked remotely loose, he was physically very strong and scary and strangely lucid when angry.
He passed away a few years ago but my father in law has now been diagnosed, he's a fair bit older and so far it's a very different experience, he's very benign and accepting enough to go on a study program with scans and tests, my dad would have been breaking heads if we'd even suggested that.
It's a crappy way for a family to watch their loved ones go.
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