COVID-19 cases in residential aged care have nearly tripled in the last two months to nearly 1,000 cases, yet the Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has announced that funding will be scaled back for aged care homes managing outbreaks.
A spokesperson for family-owned, Western Australia-based aged care provider Hall & Prior, told The SOURCE, “Infection Prevention and Control, including the management of COVID, remains a core business for aged care providers.
“While the new funding does not meet the true costs of the increased staffing, PPE and other costs associated with managing a COVID outbreak, we are grateful that some funding is still available to support facilities to manage outbreaks if they occur.”
The threat of residential aged care residents catching COVID remains live, despite Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, announcing that COVID is no longer a “communicable disease of national significance”, meaning the virus will transition to being managed alongside other infectious diseases.
Throughout 2023, the COVID-19 Aged Care Support Program Grant reimbursed providers with the eligible costs of managing outbreaks. This grant will remain in place until 31 December 2023.
This Grant opened on 4 June 2021 and closed for applications on 31 March 2023. The Department received 11,383 applications, far exceeding expectations and leading to lengthy delays. However, today, grants are being paid within six to eight weeks from submission.
However, on Monday, the Government announced a new Aged Care Outbreak Management Supplement which will “contribute to the cost of meeting outbreak management costs” from 1 January 2024.
“Where the grants required that you actually incurred the cost and then sought reimbursement through the grants process, this payment will actually be made upfront to all eligible residential aged care providers,” said Eliza Hazlett, Acting Assistant Secretary, Emergency Preparedness and Response with the Department of Health and Aged Care at a webinar this week.
PPE and RAT tests will continue to be deployed up until 30 April 2024 from the National Medical Stockpile. Providers are required to source stocks from commercial suppliers in the first instance and then from 1 May 2024, providers will be expected to source their own commercially supplied PPE and RAT kits, with the new supplement providing a contribution towards those purchasing costs.
To find out more about Government support for COVID-19, click HERE.
To listen to the webinar and see the slides, click HERE.
The SOURCE: COVID-19 outbreaks have added considerably to providers’ costs over the last four years. Cutting this funding will take more off their bottom line.