Should the State pay for the rich?

ONE absolute certainty in this life is ultimate death, so the circumstances surrounding the treatment of people in their declining days should be of concern to us all. Ultimately it is an issue that concerns everyone, and everyone’s loved ones.

Leaked indications from a Government review group study suggest that the State should stop paying subventions for nursing home care for people after three months, and that the cost of any further care should be recovered from the property assets of those people after they die.

Nursing homes are insisting that they have 2,000 beds available, while hospitals are screaming that elderly people who should not be in acute beds are taking up much-needed space. People in need of treatment are being forced onto waiting lists. Who should pay?