The funding of care homes is to say the least, somewhat contentious and depending on circumstances some of the care may be paid for by the NHS, also those who pay for their own care may find they are being 'taxed' in that they are subsidising those relying on the state.
The difference with benefits such as housing benefit is that people generally do not expect to claim it, it is intended as an emergency measure whereas almost everybody expects to stop working sooner or later and the idea of the pension is to allow that to happen.
Receiving the basic state pension does not mean other benefits are also automatically payable, it is regarded as income and is taxable, a proportion of it does go back to the treasury.
Considering that additional pension may be paid because of the income a person has received it could hardly be fair if the person also saved they then lost that.
Already a person with very small additional pension which takes their total income over the pension credit limit may find they are actually worse off, to means test the basic pension would have a far greater effect and would be a serious blow to the Government's efforts to encourage saving for old age, pension plans would be looked at with that in mind.
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Parents of young, organic life forms are warned that towels can be harmful if swallowed in large quantities.
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