Families of dementia sufferers face big bills

A dementia advocacy group says some families face care bills of several hundred dollars a week if their relatives are too wealthy to receive taxpayer subsidies.

To qualify for the Residential Care Subsidy, if you are over 65, don't have a partner or one in care, the total value of your assets must be $227,125 or less. This includes the value of a house, car and any savings.

They are only allowed to transfer up to $6500 a year to their children for each of the five years before they go into care.

Dementia New Zealand chief executive Paul Sullivan said the rules were too tough, and he called for a review.

‘‘We get a lot of people saying to us ‘Look, I just didn’t know that dementia would be this expensive’.

‘‘It really costs people a lot of money to take care of their family.’’ 

About 60,000 New Zealanders have dementia, a number which is set to almost triple by 2050.

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