Aged Care Minister Sam Rae has issued a blunt warning to providers: there are no excuses not to be ready with a new regime that kicks in this week. Source: The West Australian.
After a four-month delay, the biggest change to the sector in a generation begins on Saturday, with many – including Mr Rae – holding their breath for several unknowns.
Mr Rae said the “big and sophisticated providers” that make up the majority of the sector “are well and truly ready.”
While he acknowledges smaller providers are less confident, he says there should be no excuses now for anyone not to be ready.
“If we had pushed ahead with 1 July . . . the providers would have been within their rights to say, ‘We haven’t really been given a good run up here. It’s been a bit rushed’. That’s why we deferred it,” he said.
“(Now) they really have no excuses. And to their credit, the vast majority of providers have worked extremely hard and are ready for the first of November.”
Under the landmark reforms, people being cared for at home will no longer pay fees simply for having a care package, but will instead pay a co-contribution based on what services they receive. There are no contributions for clinical care in the new Support at Home program.
But there are still major concerns about how much those services will cost. Some estimates have suggested $50 to $100 an hour for “personal care”, which can include help for basic tasks like showering and personal care.
One of the controversial changes has been excluding personal care services, such as showering, from the free clinical care component.
Council on the Ageing chief executive Patricia Sparrow said her organisation would continue to push strongly for showering to be included.
For people who enter residential aged care after the new system starts, changes to the means assessment will mean about half of new residents pay more.
Those who can afford it will now pay a hotelling contribution and contribute some of the costs of their non-clinical care. Providers offering higher-quality services can also now charge a new fee for these optional extras.
FULL STORY
Aged care: Sam Rae warns aged care providers they’ve got ‘no excuses’ ahead of new regime kicking off (By Katina Curtis, The West Australian)
