Since the establishment of the Dependency Law, approved in 2006, it was thought that the provision of these social services by the State and the Autonomous Communities would solve the needs for long-term care.
What is dependence
Configured as the fourth pillar of the Welfare State, together with health, education and pensions, the law gives clear priority to the provision of services (prevention, teleassistance, home help, day and night centers and residential centers) and, on the other hand, considers that economic benefits should be exceptional.
The autonomous communities and local councils are the ones that have to apply the law, and they are immediately overwhelmed. It is no coincidence that there are already more than one million dependent people in Spain, 65% of whom are women.
Therefore, despite the initial increase in benefits, funding problems have already arisen.
On the other hand, what is being done is to impose high co-payments on the users of these services, already reaching 16% of the total service. The lack of funding is reflected in the budget allocated to it: spending on dependency is less than 1% of GDP, while educational spending, for example, is 4.9%.
Problems with dependency
In addition to funding problems, there are delays in the time required for the resolution of the dependency situation, as well as for the provision of services. There are already 230,000 people on the waiting list.
If it is already difficult to receive public benefits, both welfare and economic, the final straw has been to require non-professional caregivers to pay their own Social Security contributions. Until now, this has been paid by the Administration, and this has meant that more than 90% of the affiliates have disappeared.
For this reason, and in view of the fact that only 25% of people with a recognized disability in Spain have a recognized dependency, mechanisms have also been sought in the private sector to solve this unsustainable imbalance. Dependency insurance arose as a result of these difficulties.
Insurance solution: long-term care insurance
In order to receive public dependency benefits, it is necessary to go through two phases: first, the recognition of dependency and, second, the granting of the benefit. On the other hand, insurance companies, as soon as the recognition of dependency is demonstrated, proceed to pay the insured amount immediately, solving the serious problem of many families who have been waiting for more than three years for an efficient public response.
In addition, the premiums paid for these dependency insurance policies, as is the case with contributions to pension plans, reduce the IRPF taxable base, which means a saving in the payment of this tax and, therefore, of the insurance premium.
For all these reasons, given the reality of many families that:
- Even in a crisis situation, they have to decapitalize in the care of their elderly (either by paying for a nursing home: 1300-2000 €/month, or by hiring staff to take care of their relatives when they cannot), or
- Put aside their free time to take care of them.
This insurance can be a solution to that complicated situation, at a price that, until the age of 55, does not reach 50 cents a day. If you are thinking about yourself, your parents or simply about how to avoid a future problem that could affect your loved ones, call us or write to us. We will inform you of the best long-term care insurance at the moment.
