Kylie Lang on why Labor’s aged care reforms will only bring pain to a lot of Aussies

Labor has hailed its 'historic' aged care package but many Aussies will feel the pain, writes Kylie Lang. VOTE NOW

The Federal Government’s so-called historic aged care reform package kicks in from today but don’t be fooled because the people who should be benefiting will actually be paying more.

And, in true Labor form, those deemed “rich” will be hardest slugged.

People currently in residential care or on a home-care package will be “no worse off”, the government claims, but the reality is everybody else embarking on the frightening aged care journey will be forced to cough up more.

Despite splashing $5.6bn on the reforms, the government itself has admitted that almost one-third of full pensioners and three-quarters of part pensioners will pay more.

If you’re a self-funded retiree, the outcome is even bleaker.

Your reward for paying taxes all your life and achieving even moderate financial independence is a $350-a-week bill for someone to shower you.

That’s because each wash will cost $100 (according to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing) and self-funded retirees will pick up 50 per cent of that. For full pensioners, it’s five per cent or $35 a week.

Maybe people just stop showering.

Because there are other services to consider such as meals, cleaning and laundry – tipped to be around $95 an hour or whatever providers feel like charging – with self-funded retirees funding 80 per cent of that and full pensioners 17.5 per cent.

Despite splashing $5.6bn on the reforms, the government itself has admitted that almost one-third of full pensioners and three-quarters of part pensioners will pay more.

The good news – ha! – is once you’ve spent $130,000 simply to stay alive the government will let you apply for financial hardship assistance.

Humiliating is one word for it.

While a key focus of the reforms is Support at Home – under the guise of “independence” but actually to keep people out of hospitals – residential care facilities stand to win big.

The cost for a basic bed has risen to $750,000 in what is called a Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD), except that what’s refundable is a whole lot less.

Not only do facilities pocket the interest from that lump sum but they also now take two per cent every year for five years. Sorry kids.

Plus, there’s a new “hotelling supplement” of up to $22 a day for meals, laundry and cleaning – some might call these essentials, but not this government.

Navigating the system is a nightmare.

The cost for a basic bed has risen to $750,000 in what is called a Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD), except that what’s refundable is a whole lot less.

Brisbane man Scott Burrows has been trying to source care for his mother for 18 months – and says the reforms offer no improvement.

This week, Burrows wrote to Health Minister Mark Butler asking: “What support exists for those who built this country yet now find themselves shut out of the system meant to protect them?”

Burrows has stepped in because his father, 81, “can no longer manage the overwhelming complexity” of “a system that seems designed not to work for our elderly”.

“Nine weeks ago, my mother – who suffers frontal lobe dementia, anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and Crohn’s disease – was admitted to hospital following several dementia-related episodes,” he writes.

Brisbane man Scott Burrows has been trying to source care for his mother for 18 months – and says the reforms offer no improvement.

“She was deemed unfit to return home and remains in hospital, waiting for a placement in an aged care facility equipped to meet her needs.”

Burrows has hired an aged care broker to help but “it has become painfully clear that profit outweighs patient care”.

“My parents cannot afford the exorbitant RADs most facilities require,” he writes, adding that selling the family home would leave his father virtually penniless.

He also points to “a declining willingness to provide rooms for residents with dementia”, citing one provider whose website states the “increased complexity of care” makes it “unviable”.

Burrows is awaiting a response from the minister.

Meanwhile, his mum is being charged an $87-a-day “maintenance fee” by the public hospital.

“Dementia is an increasing problem but the government is letting residential care providers pick and choose who they take,” he says.

“They should be legislating that aged care providers have a specific percentage in their mix for people with dementia.

“If they don’t, in time there will be a whole swathe of people walking the streets like zombies because they have nowhere to go.”

By 2050, the number of people using aged care services is predicted to almost triple to 3.5 million. It is critical, now as it will be then, that politicians prioritise who matters most – and it’s not profit-driven providers.

Kylie Lang is Associate Editor of The Courier-Mail
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