40% of reclassifications seeking the correct funding under the Department of Health and Aged Care’s funding model AN-ACC are still to be resolved despite it going live on 1 October.

The Department’s data shows there have been 13,068 AN-ACC reclassification requests submitted from July to September 2022.

“This is a significant increase from 6,673 requests made as of July 2022 and confirms the ongoing challenge to ensure AN-ACC classification levels of residents reflect resident’s changing care needs and the impact of the 90% repeatability quality of original assessments,” Pride Living Group Principal JC Yap said.

The issue is that if a resident needs more funding for their care and it is not forthcoming, then the provider has to cough up the extra money until the Department of Health and Aged Care determines the reclassification.

“The timeliness of reassessment is important as changed funding only accrues from when the request has been made and successfully reassessed. This is where strong systems that trigger reassessment as early as possible are crucial,” said JC.

Signature Care Founder and Managing Director Graeme Croft told The Weekly SOURCE in September that 76% of assessments for AN-ACC funding made by the Department were “inaccurate” and had been done “incorrectly”.