Pensioner prescriptions set for means test?
Filed under: Retirement
Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Press Association Images
So what did he say, and is this the death knell for support for pensioners?
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U-turn?
Cameron was being asked whether all pensioner benefits, including free bus passes, prescriptions and the winter fuel allowance could be means-tested if the 2015 election produces a conservative government, he shied away from the rigorous denials of his last election campaign.Penions Tools & Tips
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Instead, he said: "At the next election we will have to set out all our plans and be very clear about what they are. Between now and then I want us to have this debate and ask these difficult questions."
The debate is very clearly ongoing within Whitehall. He is said to be under pressure from all sides - including George Osborne - to cut the benefits and free up a bit of cash for other bits of state aid - such as long term care.
As we reported last week, after being asked to investigate ways of paying for improving social care, government adviser Lord Warner also suggested scrapping universal pensioner benefits - as one of a handful of options
Shake-up
Clearly the Conservatives are not averse to shaking up the benefits system, so further reforms wouldn't be entirely unexpected.Cameron's speech this week, and subsequent discussions in Whitehall, have confirmed that the Conservative Party is looking at everything from regional benefit rates to breaking the link between benefits and inflation, forcing single mothers to look for work when their youngest child is three, reducing the cap on housing benefits and raising the requirements for job seekers claiming benefits.
It wouldn't be impossible to imagine Cameron adding scraping the winter fuel allowance to this list.
Pension reform on the cards
April 2012 Lifetime pension contribution allowance reduced from £1.8 million to £1.5 millionApril 2013 Personal income tax allowances for over 65s will be frozen until inflation causes the general personal allowance to catch up
April 2016 The Universal flat-rate pension will be introduced
December 2018 State pension age for women hits 65
October 2020 State pension age hits 66
April 2028 State pension age hits 67
April 2046 State pension age hits 68
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