The country’s former head of its Care Quality Commission (CQC), Sir David Behan is urging ministers there to introduce a compulsory system of social insurance for people of working age ahead of the release of the UK Government’s long-awaited aged care green paper next month.
He argues these payments should start from middle age to allow younger people to “accumulate their assets and get on the housing ladder”.
Any scheme should also be mandatory to avoid people deciding to “take their chances” and hope that they never need care.
It’s one of six options being considered in the paper to fund the UK’s future aged care system.
Sir David says without the measures, the system faces “a long steady decline” that would leave many older people with no support.
Already it’s estimated that one in seven UK pensioners who need help to wash, dress or get out of bed don’t receive it.
Guaranteeing our future care
So, could the scheme work? And could it help address our funding crisis here?
Similar systems have already been up and running in other countries for 20 years. Japan and Germany both have mandatory insurance for workers to pay for care in later life – in Japan, premiums start to be deducted at the age of 40 to allow younger people to buy a home first.
No one likes the idea of paying more for our care.
The UK Government announced a plan last year to make people use the family home to pay for aged care but the public backlash caused them to quickly backtrack.
But as Sir David points out, if they wait for a consensus on these kind of changes, they will never happen.
Recent inquiries commissioned by the Australian Government have all concluded that we need to make a greater contribution to our care, but the Federal Government has so far avoided implementing any changes that would increase care costs because – like the UK – the reforms would be unpopular.
The fact is that it needs to happen. The number of Australians aged over 85 is set to jump to 1.8 million by 2050. Supply is not going to keep up with demand. This will put pressure on both providers and families.
We should all contribute – younger and older generations alike.
The Government needs to be brave and as they say, ‘bite the bullet’. It is the only way to ensure we have a system we can all depend on.
Discussion1 Comment
Paul Keating introduced such a scheme in 1992: compulsory guaranteed superannuation.
Contrary to recent garbage produced by the Grattan Institute, I believe one savings scheme will suffice, though the compulsory percentage should be increased to enable for retirement expenses that include aged care.