The Support at Home program will cap Government funded support for cleaning at 52 hours per year (to weekly visits) and 18 hours per year for gardening (fortnightly visits), as part of the Government's paring back of support for everyday living expenses.
The annual caps "aim to ensure funding is available to focus on clinical needs and maintaining independence," Nick Morgan, Assistant Secretary, Support at Home Reform Branch with the Department of Health and Aged Care, told the Department's Support at Home webinar last Thursday.
Government will fund care
Susan Trainor (pictured left), Assistant Secretary, Funding Operations and Analysis Branch with the Department, said that, as recommended by the Aged Care Taskforce, contribution rates towards support in the home will vary according to the type of services.
Clinical care will continue to be fully funded by the Government under Support at Home, but supports for independence and everyday living will be part funded by consumer contribution rates.
Assistant Secretary
Funding Operations and Analysis Branch
Department of Health and Aged Care
"Things that are considered clinical supports, such as nursing and allied health, will be fully funded by the government," said Susan.
"Things that are considered important to support someone's independence at home will have a moderate contribution. This includes personal care, such as showering, where a person receives the assistive technology or home modification supports. The contributions for these will be based on the independence percentage rate.
"And then contributions are highest for what we call everyday living items, such as domestic assistance or cleaning and gardening. These are things that the government would not ordinarily pay for at any other stage of a person's life. We will then use a participant's age pension status to determine the actual contribution percentage."
Care professionals
Will care recipients choose then to cut back on these services?
If this proves to be the case, the cuts will impact not only on providers' bottom lines, but also on their ability to monitor and connect with their customers.
Yvonne Timson, CEO of Not For Profit home care and disability provider Community Vision, said their cleaning staff are "qualified support workers who also spot for decline, who sit with them [care recipients] and have a cup of tea as part of that service and have a chat and make sure they're all right."
"And they [everyday living expenses] are also going to be the ones with the highest contribution."