How To Fund Your Care
Admitting that you, or a loved one, needs care can be challenging and many people believe that the only option is a care home with all the associated costs. But care in your home delivered by one of our specialist care professionals can be a viable option.
Even if you have complex healthcare needs, with the help of our nursing care specialists, we can build the right care plan for you.
Funding long-term care is a big consideration when looking at home care options. Depending on your personal circumstances, there may be public funding or benefits available to you, or other financing options.
Many of our care clients finance care privately or via direct payments. If you’re funding care yourself, we do recommend that you first research whether any benefits are available to you. Funding care options include:
Public Funding
You may be eligible to receive help with funding your care from the Government. You have the right to request a free care assessment from your local council social services. This can include a community care assessment and a means-tested financial assessment to see if you are eligible to receive support with the cost of your care.
Direct Payments
If you have been assessed as needing care services, you may be offered direct payments. As part of this arrangement, monetary payments will be made by your local council directly to you so that you are able to organise and pay for your care service. These payments are designed to support you to remain living at home, encouraging independence and social inclusion in areas such as employment, education and leisure activities.
The Government is looking to increase the number of people who receive direct payments, allowing more people access to the benefits that they bring. If you are considered eligible for support with funding, your local council are duty bound to consider direct payments as an option for you, instead of providing services to meet your needs.
Private Funding
Should you not be eligible for public funding, or would simply prefer to fund your care privately, you will need to source your care independently. Faced with so many different options and conflicting information, this can become both a time-consuming and overwhelming task. If you are looking for support with financial planning, we would recommend that you contact an impartial Financial Advisor specialising in Care Fees. They can discuss options such as:
- Equity Release
- Funding Care fees
- Estate preservation
- Wealth Preservation
Whether your care is paid for by private or public funds, Advantage Healthcare are can deliver a high quality home care service to you, tailored to your individual requirements.
If you would like to receive a quote for our care at home service, based on your individual care needs, please contact one of our Care Service Managers.
Personal Health Budgets
We have a lot of experience in managing care funded through Personal Health Budgets (PHBs) and helping our clients and their family to understand and manage their PHB.
What is a Personal Health Budget (PHB)?
A Personal Health Budget (PHB) is an amount of money to support a person’s identified healthcare and wellbeing needs. Care is planned and agreed between the person or their representative and the local NHS team.
Where does the money come from?
The funding comes from your CCG and, in cases where care and support is joint funded, from your council. A PHB is not extra money. It is funding to be used to meet your health and care needs in a way that suits you.
Are three different kinds of PHBs?
The budgets can work in three ways:
- Direct Payment
- Third Party PHB
- Notional PHB
What is a Direct Healthcare Payment?
This is where you, your representative or one of the approved Direct Payment support services holds the PHB funds to buy the care and support you and your local NHS team has agreed you need. For audit purposes you or your support service supplier will have to show what the money has been spent on. If you choose to use personal assistants you will be the employer and will buy and manage them yourself with a Direct Payment support service where required.
What is a third party PHB?
This is where a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered provider (third party) holds the money for you and helps you decide what you need. After you have agreed this with your local NHS team, the provider buys the care and support you have chosen, and they become the employer.
What is a notional budget?
With a notional budget no money changes hands. You find out how much money is available and then talk to your local NHS team about the different ways to spend that money on meeting your needs. They will then arrange the agreed care and support.
What can the money be spent on?
PHBs are intended to be used for a range of services to help meet people’s goals, such as personal care and, in some cases selected equipment. People will not pay for emergency care or normal care from a family doctor from their PHB budget. People are not allowed to spend the money on gambling, debt repayment, alcohol, tobacco or anything unlawful.
You will need to show what the PHB is going to be spent on in your Care and Support Plan which will need to be agreed by your NHS Team.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/personal-health-budgets/what-are-personal-health-budgets-phbs/frequently-asked-questions-about-phbs/
The evaluation report is available at www.phbe.org.uk.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss Personal Health Budgets in more detail please contact one of our Care Service Managers.
Sarah’s story
Sarah*, who has complex care needs and lives in Shropshire with her family, was awarded a PHB of £3300 per week. Advantage Healthcare was recommended as a provider that could supply care to Sarah and to help her mum to manage the PHB.
Firstly, Advantage Healthcare arranged an assessment of Sarah’s lifestyle, care needs and circumstances, with our branch paediatric nurse. From this assessment we gained a clear understanding of her needs and we discussed with the family a plan to choose care hours to meet Sarah’s needs and fit with her family’s lifestyle. We all worked together to create a care plan which offered Sarah the best and most relevant care.
The local client care manager and team in Shropshire, selected and introduced trained carers to Sarah and her family. Her care started quickly and smoothly. Sarah’s care is overseen by her local team and branch nurse.
Advantage Healthcare has supplied care for Sarah, funded by a PHB since 2015. The family are reassured that Sarah receives high quality and consistent care, through regular review meetings and a low turnover of staff.
*name has been changed.
To discuss arranging care using a Personal Health Budget please contact one of our Care Service Managers.
Care Funders
Care and support services in the UK are not free. Most people have to pay something towards their care and you may have to pay the whole cost of your care depending on your circumstances.
Your local council may cover some or all of the cost, but the help it gives is “means-tested”. That means the amount you are asked to pay depends on how much money you have and how much care and support you need.
Local Authority funding
Do I qualify for council funding? You will have to pay the full cost of your care if you have more than £23,250 in savings. If your savings are less than £23,250 but more than £14,250 then your local council will pay for your care, but you will have to contribute £1 to the fees for every £250 of savings you have.
If you have less than £14,250 in savings, your care will be fully paid for by the council. Ask your local council for a care needs assessment. If the council decides you need support, it will carry out an assessment of your finances. This financial assessment will determine if the council will pay for your care, whether you must contribute to the costs or whether you need to pay the full costs yourself.
NHS care funding
The NHS is responsible for funding certain types of healthcare equipment you may need. In some situations, the NHS is also responsible for meeting care needs. This is usually when your need is mainly for healthcare.
If you have very severe and complex health needs, you may qualify for NHS continuing healthcare. This is an ongoing package of care that is fully funded by the NHS. In some areas of the country you can arrange your NHS continuing healthcare using a Personal Health Budget (PHB).
Self-pay: funding for your own care and support
If you have more than £23,250 in savings (not including the value of your home or your pension), you may have to pay the full cost of your care. This is known as being a self-funder.
The number of people paying for their own care is growing. While some people are eligible for funding from their council, many end up paying for all their care. If you’re paying for your own care, you won’t require a needs assessment first – you can go directly to a home care agency like us and organise it yourself without involving social services.
But, it’s a good idea to have a needs assessment before arranging your care. This will give you a clear idea of what your care needs are. An assessment with us will help find out, for example, whether you need a professional carer to come in for a few hours a day or just once a week – and what specifically they should help you with.
| Company | Operating In… | Providing… | Visit The Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abacare | Central and North Wales | Home care services |  |
| Careline Homecare | Northeast England | Home care services |  |
| Comfort Call | Across England | Home care services and Extra Care |  |
| Conard Care | Northern Ireland | Home care services |  |
| Constance Care | Scotland | Home care services |  |
