Farmers call on Reilly to cap level of nursing home fees recouped by state

FARMERS have called on the Health Minister to cap the amount of money the state can recoup towards the cost of their nursing home care to bring it in line with the level that applies to the general population.

Under the provisions of the Fair Deal Nursing Home Support Scheme, the cost of nursing home care of those who cannot afford to pay will be recouped from their assets including their house, after their death. In the case of a householder this reimbursement has been capped at 15% (5% per year for the first three years of nursing home care).

However, the same cap does not apply to farmland except in the case of a farmer being struck by sudden illness requiring immediate and unforeseen nursing home care. Instead, the 5% annum charge continues for the duration of the nursing home stay.

Eddie Punch, general secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSFA) said they want new Health Minister Dr James Reilly to end what he describes as “discriminatory” treatment of farmers.

“If a farmer is in a nursing home for a prolonged period of time, the bill could be horrendous, when you consider the annual cost of nursing home care. For instance, if he was in for seven years, the state could seek to recoup up to 35% of the value of the farm. This could leave the son or daughter who inherits the farm with a huge bill and could effectively put them out of business,” Mr Punch said.

Mr Punch said the ICSFA was receiving an increasing number of calls in relation to the issue reflecting anxiety among farmers. The ICFSA said the age profile of farmers meant the matter would become even more of an issue in the future — 56% of Irish farmers are aged 45.

John Barron, rural development chairman with the ICSA, said there was a further difficulty for farmers in the nursing home legislation under the five-year “look-back” clause where transfer of the farm prior to death, to a successor, could be set aside if a period of five years had not elapsed between the date of the transfer and the date of death. This meant the nursing home charges would remain as a charge on the land, Mr Barron said.

“If there is an charge on the farm, the banks may be reluctant to grant loans and there could be a situation where the son or daughter who inherits the farm could not be able to borrow against it,” Mr Punch said.

Introduced in 2009, the Fair Deal nursing home scheme allows a person who is in need of nursing home care to apply for state funding to pay a proportion of the nursing home charges.

The Department of Health said yesterday that a three-year cap applied to farmers in certain circumstances and that “this measure is intended to ensure the financial sustainability of family farms and businesses in cases where a person suffered a sudden illness and did not have an opportunity to put appropriate succession arrangements in place. It affords additional protection because it ensures that a person’s maximum contribution is fully quantifiable”, the department said.