MacmillanCancer Relief's response to the budget, UK
'We welcome the news that all pensioners in hospital will continue to receive their full state pension and their full entitlement to Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance and Income Support for the entire duration of their stay in hospital from April 2006. This is in recognition of the fact that individuals have many on-going fixed commitments such as housing costs and utility bills while they are in hospital.
'However we fail to see the logic of excluding Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance from this list. For some time now, Macmillan's Better Deal campaign has been calling on Government to ensure these two benefits are brought in line with other benefits. People dealing with cancer continue to have extra costs whilst they are in hospital yet currently DLA and AA are stopped after 28 days. We have been calling for this 28-day downrating rule to be scrapped as it's unfair on cancer patients and their families - costs do not stop just because someone is in hospital receiving treatment.'
For further information, please contact:
Kirsty Warwick - Macmillan Cancer Relief Press Office
020 7840 7808 (out of hours 07801 307068)
kwarwick@macmillan.org.uk
About the hospital in-patient rules
Macmillan has been calling for hospital in-patients to be allowed to keep their DLA or AA for 52 weeks and for the 28-day linking rule to be scrapped as part of their Better Deal campaign.
In-patients lose their DLA after four weeks, and short stays in hospital can be linked together and if they amount to 28 days benefit is withdrawn. Both mean that cancer patients may lose some DLA as a result of treatment. This is unfair.
-- People in hospital still have bills to pay.
-- Extra costs include telephone calls home, family members taking time off work to visit and their travel costs.
-- Loss of DLA or AA penalises a patient's family as linked benefits, such as Carer's Allowance and additional premiums within the means-tested benefits system are also lost
-- Patients should not have to arrange treatment to fit around the benefit system - and yet we know this happens.
-- Extending the entitlement to 52 weeks would align DLA with other benefits.
http://www.macmillan.org.uk
MacmillanCancer Relief rãspunsul la buget, Marea Britanie - MacmillanCancer Relief's response to the budget, UK - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate