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Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), the peak body for age service providers, demands support for top four issues for first 100 days of Government.
鈥淲hile this issue may be currently seen as a 鈥榮leeping giant鈥� without attention it has the capacity to put incredible pressure on an incoming government. "Age services is an intergenerational issue, some need it for themselves, others for family and another group again will be called on to fund it鈥� said LASA CEO Patrick Reid.
鈥淟ASA will work with whoever forms government, but we are planning ahead and we need our political leaders to do the same. "To assist LASA has identified the top 4 issues as part of their age services manifestofor the first 100 days of a new government.鈥�
鈥淎s we work through age services reform LASA action that must be taken by a new government to ensure that providers are supported to operate and minimise uncertainty during the period of change.鈥�
The top four issues for聽 first 100 days of Government are:
Day 1: Scrap the Means Testing of Residential Accommodation Deposits (RAD): Consumers who elect to fund their Residential Accommodation Deposit (RAD) through the sale of their home will now have the RAD amount included in their means test, an important fiscal item that has not been included in the past. Consequently, someone of modest means will be impacted adversely; further driving a loss of value for the consumer and putting further pressure on an already stressed care sector.
Day 15: Announce a cost-of-care study to ensure funding matches the true cost of quality care: Current age services funding does not match the true cost of care delivered to older Australians. The Productivity Commission report, Caring For Older Australians, clearly advocated for clear funding increases and innovative policy initiatives for funding to match the demonstrated care provided.聽 We call on the incoming government to be brave and not fear looking at a cost-of-care study.
Day 30: Equalise the annual cap calculation for home and residential care: Currently older Australians receiving home care have their care costs averaged throughout the year (for the purposes of the funding cap). However, a consumer in a residential aged care facility must pay all of their costs up front until they reach the annual cap. This highlights a stark inequity between the treatment of the funding cap in home and residential care; significantly driving up the consumer co-payment and adding unnecessary complexity to the process.
Day 100: Commit to improve the Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR) process. The Government needs to guarantee an Older Australian鈥檚 right to age services, rather than arbitrarily limiting places. This can make access to age services in the home a game of chance, and one where the odds are weighted against the consumer. The latest Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR) saw 106,000 applications for only 5,835 places.
鈥淎ustralians young and old need to hear from our leaders as to how they will provide adequate funding to ensure high quality services and equity of access to allow older Australians to live well," Mr Reid said