The Government and the Opposition have agreed that the reforms to the Aged Care Act will only be for future residents. But what's in the finer detail?
The Coalition says it has secured the grandfathering arrangements, which means the changes will only apply to new aged care recipients.
But new entrants will have to make larger means-tested contributions to their care. See below:
Residential aged care
- New entrants will pay a supplement if they have more than $238,000 in assets, $95,400 in annual income or a combination of the two. The family home is not treated as an asset.
- The price of rooms in residential aged care facilities will be increased, with providers able to charge up to $750,000 for a room without seeking special approval, an increase of $200,000 above the current limit; that price will also be indexed over time.
- Operators will be able to retain 2% of accommodation deposits from residents per year for five years, to address the almost half of providers currently making a loss from accommodation.
- Three in 10 new entrants receiving a full Pension and seven in 10 receiving a part Pension would be required to make greater contributions under the reforms, with fee structures targeted at higher means residents.
Home care
- The new Support at Home program will start from July next year.
- It will provide support for nursing care, occupational therapy, supports like help with showering or taking medications, and everyday living like cleaning and gardening, as the Government aims to help more people stay in their homes for longer.
- Those Packages will also be subject to greater means testing, which will vary depending on individual circumstances.
- Full Pensioners will pay 5% of the cost of their supports, and 17.5% of their everyday living costs.
- Self-funded retirees will pay 80% of their everyday living costs, and 50% of costs supporting their independence.
- All residents will have their clinical care costs completely covered.
- The lifetime cap on how much an individual can pay for non-clinical care costs will increase from around $80,000 to $130,000 across home and residential care.
Government savings
- The Australian Government will save $12.6 billion over the 11 years from the reforms.
- It will remain the primary funder of aged care, contributing $3.30 for every $1 contributed by residential care recipients and $7.80 for every $1 contributed by home care recipients.
- The reforms will reduce the share the Government contributes to residential care by 3%, to 73%, and its share of home care costs by 6%, to 89% of sector costs.
- An additional $930 million will be spent on the sector in the coming four years.
