Government sets £75 000 cap on social care in England

The government has agreed to cap the lifetime costs that anyone would have to pay for social care in England at £75 000 (€87 000; $117 000), more than double the £35 000 recommended by Andrew Dilnot’s review of social care.1

Anyone with assets worth less than £123 000 would immediately be eligible for free residential care when the changes were introduced in 2017, the health secretary for England, Jeremy Hunt, announced to parliament on 11 February. The threshold is currently £23 250.

Under the new system, local authorities would assess eligibility for residential care or home services. To ensure a fair system, where people qualified for the same level of services regardless of where they lived, the Department of Health would introduce national eligibility standards in 2015.

If someone were deemed eligible for free residential care they …