Rishi Sunak hopes insurers could help fund social care costs
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told Treasury officials to start talks with the insurance industry over potential new products to help finance social care costs, a treasury source said, according to reports.
The news follows plans set out earlier this week by the Prime Minister to raise taxes on workers, employers and some investors in an attempt to plug a hole in health and social care funding.
The government said individuals’ contributions towards the cost of care over their lifetime would be capped at £86,000 in the new plan, and it would fund any costs above that threshold.
Sunak directed officials in the Treasury to discuss “new products”, which would help fund UK social care costs, with insurance companies according to the Financial Times, who first reported the news.
“The Chancellor has asked officials to work with insurers to consider new products that can help with social care costs,” a Treasury source told City A.M.
“We’re hopeful that in time the cap on costs will provide the clarity insurers need to create new products,” the source added.
In making the announcement to raise taxes to fund social care, which is any long-term health care outside of hospitals, Boris Johnson broke a manifesto promise.
According to the Financial Times, if insurance could cover expenses up to £86,000, it could help Johnson make the augment that he had not broken the Conservative party manifesto pledge in which he promised that “nobody needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it.”