Options for funding longterm care: the partnership model compared

This article examines options for the reform of adult social care funding, noting that universal agreement on the need for a new system has not been matched by political consensus on how this could be achieved. The costs and outcomes of some of the principal options for reform are summarised - including a revised version of The King's Fund partnership model and the policy of free personal care - and how these compare with the existing means-tested system if left unreformed. These and other models are not mutually exclusive, and the selection of which options to pursue will involve delicate balancing of political, economic and administrative criteria. On balance, our view is that a revised version of the original partnership model offers the best outcomes in relation to costs, and one that can be blended with other funding options to reflect the changing nature of trade-offs between costs, affordability and simplicity.