The Aged Care Taskforce is meeting today and will likely be ironing out the final details of their interim advice to the Federal Government, which will be handed down, in private, some time this month.

The Taskforce’s recommendations will be based on strategies that can be rolled out without new legislation or further time-consuming delays – such as measures we have written about previously in our SATURDAY magazine.

Possible measures that could be included in the proposed reforms could be:

• Deregulating and increasing the Basic Daily Fee, with consumers who can afford to paying more but supported residents continuing to be supported by the Government
• Charging for additional services above this minimum cap, for example, an extra $20 for extra entertainment and dining options
• Utilising the Maximum Permissible Interest Rate (MPIR) on RADs as a ‘rental’ fee equivalent to several percent that is not refunded
• Lifting the minimum price accommodation price to $750,000 as recommended by David Tune in his 2017 Aged Care Legislated Review
   

The SOURCE: With more than half of aged care providers operating at a loss, consumers who can afford to should be making larger contributions to the cost of their aged care accommodation.