Pay when you die solution for pensioners moving into care homes In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the Health Secretary says: "Our plans will end the scandal of people being forced to sell their home to pay for their care. From 2015, everyone will be able to get a loan instead of having to sell their home while they are alive. But the Health Secretary adds: "I recognise that we can go further. We can enable people not to lose everything they have worked and saved for if they need care for several years. That is why we agree in principle that a limit on the amount that people pay themselves for the long-term care they receive would be the right way forward. He points out, however, that public finances are under pressure. The "deferred payment" scheme for care homes was first proposed by a Royal Commission more than a decade ago. Since then, councils have been able to offer interest-free loans to people who face having to sell their home to pay for care. But their availability varies significantly throughout the country. Most local authorities will only provide loans to those with few savings and, in the past year, about 8,500 have been offered. The new scheme will order councils to provide the loans. They will be able to charge "nominal" interest - probably in line with inflation - so that it does not cost them money. The loans will be repaid after someone dies, either by selling their home or by the heirs re-mortgaging the property. Details will be negotiated between the Government and local authorities in the coming months, and the level of interest payments is likely to prove crucial. The social care proposals are billed by the Government as a "watershed moment." There will also be initiatives for those caring for loved ones and powers to give people far more control over their own care. More people will be looked after in their own homes, where previously they would have been forced into nursing homes. Ministers will find another £200 million to provide specialist housing for the elderly. In the article, Mr Lansley also pledges to end the "postcode lottery" which faces people needing care. "We will for the first time set out that people in need of care and support have minimum rights and standards that they can expect - wherever they live," he says. So an older person can move closer to their loved ones with greater confidence that their care will continue. The proposals are unlikely to assuage campaigners who are increasingly angered over delays to fundamental reforms of the care system. Research has found that most people are unaware that long-term care in residential homes, or through home-help services, is not free on the NHS. Anyone with assets of more than £23,000 is required to pay for all their care costs themselves and one in 10 adults will have a lifetime bill of more than £100,000. A year ago, Andrew Dilnot, an economist, recommended a £35,000 "cap" on what anyone would pay for long-term care. The state would meet any extra costs, and individuals would be encouraged to take out insurance or save to pay up to the level of the cap. Cross-party talks broke down last week. Michelle Mitchell, of Age UK, said that without urgent reform, elderly people would be increasingly "fearful and worried about their future." Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of the Local Government Association, said that council social services would need more money. "There is an immediate crisis in social care," he said. Pensioners are routinely treated "like children," ignored in public and left standing on buses, a study of attitudes by the charity Friends of the Elderly found. Only one in five people believes Britain is a "good" place to grow old.