Minister of State Tony Killeen T.D. has said that the new Nursing Homes Support Scheme will help make long-term nursing home care more accessible and equitable.The Clare T.D. made his comment as the new scheme, also known as A Fair Deal, came into operation this week. The Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 is a new system of nursing home support which provides financial assistance to people in need of long-term residential care.
Minister of State Killeen said that applications were now being accepted for the new scheme. He continued: “People can apply to the Health Service Executive under the Scheme seeking financial support for the cost of their long-term care. The scheme, which involves applicants having a care needs and financial assessment, will be the same for all types of nursing home care whether in public / voluntary or approved private nursing homes, and replaces the current Nursing Home Subvention Scheme. Staff in the HSE’s Nursing Homes Support Office in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Limerick, are available to provide information and process applications under the new Scheme. “
“The HSE is expecting significant volumes of applications in the initial weeks of the new Scheme and applicants are being advised that it may take up to 4-6 weeks in respect of general applications for the Scheme”, added Minister Killeen. The local Deputy noted that persons currently in care will not require a care needs assessment and will not be disadvantaged financially under the new scheme. “The scheme is resource-capped and the HSE may only provide financial support from within the resources allocated to the Scheme in any given financial year by the Oireachtas”, he stated.
The Scheme is based on equitable cost-sharing between the person receiving care and the State, with the State paying the shortfall between what someone can afford to pay and the actual cost of the nursing home care. Once a person has been assessed as needing long-term care through the care assessment, the financial assessment will work out how much a person can contribute to the cost of their care by taking account of their income and assets.
Essentially the assessment will establish a person’s ability to contribute to their care costs based on 80% of their assessable income and 5% of the value of their assets per annum. In the case of a couple the assessment will be on the basis of half of the couple’s combined income and assets. Where the applicant’s assets include land and property, the 5% contribution based on such assets may be deferred. This means that the HSE will pay the money to the nursing home on the applicant’s behalf (i.e. loan the money) and it will be collected after the applicant’s death. This is an optional benefit of the scheme, the purpose of which is to ensure that the applicant doesn’t have to sell assets such as his/her home during his/her lifetime. In addition the applicant’s home will only be included in the financial assessment for the first 3 years of his/her time in care - known as the ‘three year’ cap.
Further details of how The Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 will operate, and an Information Booklet and Questions and Answers on all aspects of the scheme are available on the HSE website www.hse.ie. The HSE Information Line is 1850 24 1850 (Mon-Sat 8am-8pm).
