Health Minister Mark Butler will unveil fixes to the country’s aged care system alongside his overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in his pre-budget speech on two of the Government’s fastest-growing cost pressures. Source: The Age.
Labor will spend $1 billion extra in next month’s budget to cover costs for older people in home care who need help showering, dressing and managing incontinence – services that started incurring out-of-pocket fees when Labor’s new aged care system came into effect last November.
The change for about 350,000 older Australians with home care packages, whether full-time pensioners or self-funded retirees, follows a flood of complaints about people forgoing showers or not leaving the house because of increased costs.
The policy reversal is expected to be among a handful of aged care changes Mr Butler will reveal in a keynote to the National Press Club today.
The speech will also unveil Labor’s plans to slow growth in the NDIS, including by boosting services outside the scheme so fewer people rely on it.
The aged care system is forecast to cost more than $40 billion this year, while the NDIS bill will hit $50 billion, putting both among the five fastest-growing items in the federal budget and presenting an urgent challenge for Mr Butler, who is in charge of both those areas and the health system.
The Government is dealing with unforeseen growth in the NDIS as well as broad integrity problems: the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has this month lodged a submission to parliament saying organised crime and professional fraud syndicates have infiltrated the scheme.
The agency has detected NDIS funds used for large cash withdrawals and asset purchases, while cash incentives, or “kickbacks”, were being offered to participants or their families, some of whom were unaware or coerced with intimidation or threats of violence.
The main challenge for aged care is booming demand, as Australia’s ageing population butts up against long waitlists for home care, shortages of nursing home beds, and workforce constraints.
FULL STORY
Labor to tackle two of budget’s biggest headaches – aged care and NDIS – in one go (By Natassia Chrysanthos, The Age)
