Friday, July 29, 2022

Nursing Home Support Scheme Guide for Farmers

Farmers have been fighting for fairness in Fair Deal Scheme implementation for years now. Before, there was no clarity on inclusions under sudden illness or disability. Most farm families avoided the Nursing Home Support Scheme fearing loss of business value. The farmers really hoped for the financial assessment to be reduced to 3 years. They were constantly living in anxiety over being disqualified from the 3-year cap had they cared more about their loved ones at home. So, you can imagine how “fundamentally unfair” it appeared back then.

Things have changed for the better now. If you belong to the farm family, operate its business and looking to update yourself on the changes brought forward by the HSE, go through this Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme guide. The upcoming sections have them highlighted for your convenience.



3-Year Cap on Family-Owned and Operated Farm Business Assets

A 3-year cap, in simple terms, implies the inclusion of assets in the financial assessment for the first three years that you are under nursing home care. So, if a beneficiary of the scheme from a farming background pays a 7.5% contribution of their aggregate asset value, it shall be limited to 3 years. A farmer is not entitled to further payments after 3-years despite the person receiving long-term nursing home care.

How to Make Your Family-Owned Farm Business Eligible for the 3-Year Cap?

Enlisted are the conditions to satisfy to qualify for the 3-year cap:

·        The owner and operator of the farm business must apply to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to appoint a family successor who commits to run the trade for a minimum of 6 years.

·        The applicant must actively run the farm business from on day-to-day basis. In the absence of the person, his partner or a proposed family successor is allowed to look after it. This should be a practice for the past 3-years, if not 5-years.

·        The successor must be at least 18 years of age and either your partner, that of your relatives or a relative himself/ herself.

·        The farm property must have a charge in favour of the HSE.

If you have ticked off all the qualifying criteria, you have safely made your way into the 3-year cap. However, please take note of the fact that you have the option of taking up the Nursing Home Loan Scheme only if you have a land-based asset in Ireland. The rest of the rules are more or less the same for all applicants, irrespective of background.

Closing Thoughts:

If you have drawn significant insights from this post and these have been helpful, come back more often for Nursing Home Support Scheme advice. You may even seek the advisory services from Fair Deal Advice, a treasure trove of information on the Fair Deal Scheme in Ireland. You can greatly benefit from their consultations in exchange for a nominal fee.