The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) has launched a program to audit “selected” home care providers to ensure they are meeting the new legislative requirements which came into effect at the beginning of the year.

Home care providers may be selected to be audited if they are new, if a pricing complaint has been made about them, or if the ACQSC is concerned about how the provider manages Home Care Packages or charges.

The new legislation requires home care providers to cap care management fees at 20% of the package cost, cap package management fees at 15% of the package cost, and bans exit fees.

‘Fees and charges’ are regularly the second-most-complained-about issue in home care – behind ‘lack of consultation or communication’, which regularly tops the list.