THE government grasps a nettle - or, rather, hands it to a Royal Commission - as it sets out to find a "fair and affordable" way of funding long-term care of the elderly.

The ever-increasing number of old people needing nursing accommodation or care in their own homes, and the funding of it, clashes with the strains on an ever-rising welfare budget.

It is one of the country's greatest social problems.

But at present the system penalises the thrifty.

Thousands of elderly people who have worked hard all their lives have had to sell their homes to meet the cost of residential care because those with assets of £16,000 and more have to pay the full cost, now averaging up to £20,000 a year.

The anxiety this causes old people and their families is immense. This is particularly so when they witness others who have been less provident having all or part of their fees paid for by the state.

A caring society - even one faced by the immense demographic pressures on the welfare system and its affordability - would, of course, not deny any old person the right to the care they need in their final years.

But it will be in striking a balance over how much the state will provide and what individuals must be expected to contribute that will cause the greatest difficulty for the commission on elderly care set up by Health Secretary Frank Dobson.

The last government floated the notion of a state-subsidised insurance-based system of funding care, designed to spare the elderly from the anxiety of losing assets for which they have worked all their lives.

And the commission may have to examine such options - perhaps even compulsory old-age insurance for all.

But, whatever its recommendations, it will always be the duty of the government in a decent society to ensure that proper care for the elderly is available to all and that access to it is as free as possible from the worry it entails for too many at present.

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