POLITICIANS are being urged to commit to funding elderly care from general taxation after new research showed that most of those going into a home will die before they reach a new cap on the cost of their care.

A limit of £72,000 comes into force in England in 2016 in an attempt to deal with some of the costs associated with caring for an ageing population.

But the GMB union said 90 per cent of those who go into a home will die before they can benefit from the cap.

The union, which represents staff in care homes, said the £72,000 was "completely inadequate", as it excluded money care home residents have to contribute towards items such as food.

The so-called "hotel costs" amount to around £230 a week, said the GMB.

GMB national officer Justin Bowden said the cap had to be considered in the context of how long people tended to stay in care homes.

"Nearly 90 per cent of the people who have to go into a care home will not live long enough to reach the cap.

"This is a betrayal of hundreds of thousands of citizens who contributed to this country all their working lives and were promised a cradle-to-grave system of care if they needed it, free at the point of use.

"Instead they are thrown into a lottery whose outcome depends on whether or not they are one from 20 from each age group who will need to go into a care home and if so how long they will be there.

"At their most vulnerable and needy, they are expected to empty their hard-earned savings or sell their houses long before reaching the cap.

"We need to move away from this mess of means-testing and capping. The Westminster parties should make manifesto pledges to integrate elderly care with the health service and fund both from general taxation. This would patently be a fairer system.

"Older people are being short-changed by the current approach to funding. The care workforce is getting a raw deal too. The sector desperately needs more public investment and control."

The Department of Health has said it is introducing the first ever cap on care in a move to protect people from "catastrophic" care costs and deferred payments.