Councils face a £1.58bn annual bill as people willing to deplete their wealth to avoid paying for care almost doubles in a year.
Numbers thought to be happy to reduce their assets below the £23,250 threshold to ensure the state pays for the majority of their care rose to 41% this year, an 18 point rise on 2013.
According to insurer Partnership, this could see England's local authorities footing a multi-million pound bill if all of those planning to spend their wealth do so. Around 150,000 people are thought to be entering care every year.
Councils in the South East and North West are likely to be worst hit due to the higher proportion of local care homes, with the regions facing a £330m and £240m bill respectively.
Thomas Kenny, head of technical pricing at Partnership said: 'Despite the introduction of a proportion of the Care Act in April 2015, 61% of over-45s are still confused about how the care system works, who funds it and how much it costs.
'With some viewing long-term care as a service that the state should pay for, you can see why they might think that they would rather spend their assets or give it to their families to avoid paying these bills.
'Not only do 77% want the opportunity to live near their families if they go into care - not always an option for those the council funds - but 44% say they have not even thought about care so this type of forward planning is unlikely.
'However, when the new legislation comes into force, this is something that councils will certainly need to watch for.'
