Care Costs Drive Pensioner To Bankruptcy
By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer
You’d think that only in the developing countries were pensioners and other seniors got a raw deal. Developed countries like the US of A and UK were miles ahead when it came to caring for our seniors. Well, you can think again. Here’s one instance of extremely highhanded behavior, which just asks to be condemned.
A recent report in the Herald highlights the plight of an elderly man in the UK who was forced to the brink of bankruptcy by his council’s demands for care home costs. A man signed over his property to his son, without payment, nine years before moving into a care home.
The council calculated the value of the house as part of the father’s assets. This resulted in much higher care home costs for the poor old man. This, when the public purse is supposed to pay for care and nursing costs. The main reason this happened was because of a rule, which says that individuals reckoned to have the means are still liable for the cost of renting their room and for food. So, the house that this elderly man gifted away was added onto his list of assets to determine his means.