Friday, November 4, 2022

How To Manage Your Assets And The Nursing Home Support Scheme Cost of Care?

 

On November 1, 2022, the Health Service Executive (HSE) announced that it would lower the Nursing Home Support Scheme (NHSS) cost of care contribution rate assessed on income obtained from renting out primary private residences. Earlier, a 3-year cap was introduced on the contribution from assets on October 20, 2022. With the systematic reduction of amount percentages and the imposition of time limits like the 3-year cap, it is a sign that the HSE is attempting to make it simpler and more equitable for those with assets to take the Fair Deal Scheme.

 

What Are Assets Under The Fair Deal Scheme

Assets include property, investments, and loaned money, among others. The HSE segregates the assets from the income and includes both cash assets and non-cash assets, which go as follows:

 

    Cash as in savings

    Investments in stocks, shares, funds etc.

    Any pension or retirement funds savings

    Any money loaned out to another person or institution

    All kinds of cash assets sent out to other accounts in the past 5 years

    The primary residence - either complete ownership or shared ownership with a partner or family member

    Land - both in-land and overseas

    Farmland

    Business

The amount you must contribute to your nursing Home Support Scheme costof care is determined by a financial evaluation, which is the foundation for the funding. Your income and assets determine how much you must spend on nursing home expenses, which include just about everything from savings and investments to land and residences. You pay less if you make less money and have fewer assets. You pay more if you possess more.

Fair Deal Scheme: The 3-Year Cap Regulations and Guidelines for Assets

The 3-year cap is automatically imposed in the case of principal residences, and beginning with the fourth year, nursing home residents are not required to make payments.

Even if the resident or their family decides to sell the home, the 3-year cap would still apply, and there would be no requirement to pay the HSE out of the sale proceeds. However, the family is required to notify the local office of the Fair Deal Scheme, while you are planning the sale.

The 3-year cap would guarantee that you only have to pay 21.5% of the value of your assets and 11.5% for couples, although the payments on assets like homes, property, and farmland continue to be 7.5% for individuals and 3.75% for couples.

The 3-year cap also applies to the Nursing Home Loan Scheme, so borrowers who have used the loan can postpone payments against their assets so that the HSE can collect the money from their estates after their death. The sum is no more than either 11.5% or 22.5%.,

 

3-Year Cap for Farms and Businesses

How the 3-year cap works is a little different from how it works for homes. Under a mortgage-like system, the nursing home patient, their spouse, or other family members must consent to a charge in favour of the HSE.

The condition is that the person seeking nursing home care, their spouse, or the potential family successor must have actively managed your farm or business for at least three of the previous five years. The farm or business must be handed over to a family member who is willing to run it for at least six years.

 

How Rental Income Works Under Fair Deal Scheme

Under recent reforms intended to re-enter the rental market, nursing home residents who use the Fair Deal scheme will now be entitled to collect 60% of rental revenue rather than the 20% that was previously permitted.

If you are making a fresh application and wondering how to manage your property, family succession, and assets while getting long-term nursing home care, seek the assistance of a Nursing Homes Support Scheme Guide before making your first move.

 

 


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