Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for cross-party talks to find a solution to the problem of caring for Britain's growing elderly population.
There are now 1.5 million over-85s in the UK, and the figure is expected to climb steeply as people are living longer.
Mr Miliband said the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission , due to be published on Monday, should form the basis of a "once-in-a-generation" reform to ensure affordable support.
Economist Andrew Dilnot is expected to recommend a cap on payments for personal care of between �30,000 and �50,000, with the state picking up the bill for any costs incurred beyond this point.
Unconfirmed reports suggest he has settled on a figure of �35,000.
He believes this would save thousands of pensioners from having to sell their homes to pay for residential care, and would enable insurers to offer cover for the potential cost of personal care.
Experts suggest companies could offer insurance to cover potential care costs of �50,000 for a one-off premium of around �17,000.
Dilnot's Commission on the Future Funding of Care and Support is also expected to recommend a more generous threshold for means-tested assistance from the state, which currently goes only to those with assets worth less than �23,250.
The existing system is regarded as a "postcode lottery" which sees councils operating their own criteria, resulting in people with similar conditions receiving greatly varying support depending on where they live.
Moreover, one-quarter of 65-year-olds can expect never to need care, while one in 10 will have extensive needs costing more than �100,000. Some 20,000 people a year are thought to sell their homes to pay for care.
Mr Miliband has written to Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg offering to put aside Labour's proposals for a levy on the estates of the deceased to pay for care - derided as a "death tax" by Tories - in order to seek cross-party consensus.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Miliband said he has written to the Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders to offer talks "in good faith", with no preconditions.
The Labour leader wrote: "In return, I hope you both will show the same kind of leadership of your parties as well. The last thing Britain needs is for Andrew Dilnot's proposals to be put into the long grass.
"We three party leaders are of similar age and the same generation. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity which our generation must address."
A group of 25 charities, including Carers UK , the Alzheimer's Society and Macmillan Cancer Support , is backing Labour's call for cross-party talks.
The group wrote to the Sunday Telegraph urging politicians to enter discussions and set a timetable for reform.
"We cannot stick our heads in the sand and ignore the stark demographic reality of a rapidly ageing population and people with disabilities and long-term conditions living longer," said the letter.
"Our political leaders must take this opportunity, and must not let reform fall off the table for another generation. Otherwise the terrible stories of the last months, of neglect and abuse of the most vulnerable, will only grow worse."
Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/call-talks-end-elderly-care-crisis-015117214.html
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