State Abandonment – Families are destitute as a result of debilitating dementia costs

According to a recent report, for the next 125 years, an individual would need to put away £800 annually to cover dementia care expenses.

Based on research from the Alzheimer’s Society, such unrealistic social care costs are debilitating many families and leaving them destitute.

Of over 2,300 adults between the ages of 16 and 75 polled for the charity, 47% have yet to begin saving for the care they may require down the road.

The news breaks as one family revealed how they spent over £500,000 over the last decade on dementia care upon learning they wouldn’t qualify for state-funded assistance.

48-year-old Judith Jordan of Ashtead, Surrey, cared for her mother, Joan, at first. In her early 60s, Joan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She was living at home for years before her needs became greater. Things took a turn for the worse when Joan failed to eat and drink properly. She would also frequently go missing.

In her mid-60s, Joan relocated to a care home, cashing in her shares, stocks, pension, and even her husband’s life insurance to fund her care.

Before long, she wasn’t able to move properly, endured epilepsy and bedsores, and couldn’t articulate herself for the remaining 5 years of her life.

However, despite 5 funding assessments, when Joan needed state funding assistance the most, she was regularly deemed ineligible for it.

Joan passed away in August of 2016 weighing in at slightly over 4.5st. At that time, her monthly care expenses totaled £4,000. In total, more than £500,000 was spent on dementia care.

Joan would have been heartbroken if she was aware that her finances had disappeared and that she only left behind a fraction of what she intended for her grandchildren to inherit.

By the end of Joan’s life, she was unable to drink, eat, talk, or move anything except her eyes. And yet, in spite of that, she still wasn’t qualified to receive state funding. This is especially troublesome considering Joan had paid National Insurance and taxes her entire life.

Joan funded her own care until the day she died.

Based a poll conducted by the Alzheimer’s Society, 54% of adults believe support and care should be funded by the Government if they develop dementia. A mere 5% disagreed.