7. How do you apply for a Government Subsidised Home Care Package?

Tip for existing Daughterly Care clients:

BEFORE your ACAT Assessment takes place, please RING and speak to your Daughterly Care Care Manager or High Care Case Manager about the ACAT Assessment process. This is a really valuable discussion. Have a pad and pen ready.

For clients who are extremely “resistent to having care, but need it” or who have cognitive deficits it is essential that a family member / Enduring Guardian or Daughterly Care attend the assessment to advocate for our client.

Step 3: After your ACAT Assessment you will receive an ACAT APPROVAL LETTER with your assessment result, which says you are “approved as eligible” and your priority level looks like this:

Step 4: How long will you have to wait on the National Prioritisation Queue for your Home Care Package?

After you receive your approval letter ring My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and ask them “what is the approximate number of days I will have to WAIT for my Home Care Package to be ASSIGNED?”

Ask them: “is that the wait for a lower interim Home Care Package or to be assigned my actual approved Home Care Package level?”

Knowing your approximate waiting time will help your financial planning.

We strongly encourage you to ring My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and confirm that you are still on the National Prioritisation Queue every 3 months because My Aged Care have told us they drop people off the National Prioritisation Queue if they haven’t heard from them for 6 months. Yikes!

Your place on the National Prioritisation Queue depends on:

• your current assessed care needs;

• Home Care Package level 1, 2, 3 or 4 you have been approved for;

• your priority status allocated by ACAT (i.e. low, moderate or high) based on a wide range of reasons including 9 groups who have special needs;

• the date of your ACAT Assessment (that’s why you can’t wait until after you need the care, to apply);

• the care you already have in place when your assessment takes place; and

• how well your family carer is coping.

Tip: If you decline in health, it is really important you inform My Aged Care as they may be able to lift you up the National Prioritisation Queue or organise for you to be re-assessed for a higher Home Care Package.

Step 5: Ask the Department of Human Services (or DVA) for your “Fee Advice Letter for Home Care” to be sent to you.

Now that you are Approved for a Government Subsidised Home Care Package, it is time to organise your “Fee Advice letter for Home Care”.

This letter from the Department of Human Services (or DVA) tells you and your Approved Provider what fees you need to pay towards your Home Care Package. This letter is essential, especially if you are a part-pensioner or not sure if you are fully self-funded. Also the Government made changes on 1 January 2017 which made some pensioners and part-pensioners self-funded retirees. As a result, Approved Providers need this letter to charge the correct fees.

Here is an example of a Fee Advice letter for Home Care.

 

Tip: Even though your Home Care Fee Letter says what your Basic Daily Care Fee is payable, Daughterly Care waives this fee from 1/7/2019.

Tip: If you are close to the threshold for the Income Tested Care Fee, perhaps you could get financial planning advice on whether there are any strategies to make you a part-pensioner or pensioner again. Daughterly Care recommends you speak to Chartered Accountant, Tony Fenwicke:

Tel: 02 8968 5300

There is no ‘kick back’ or financial advantage for Daughterly Care Community Services from this firm.

Our CEO, Kate Lambert B.Ec F. Fin, has trained Tony Fenwicke from Wealth Definition, about how Home Care Packages work. Kate likes the fact that Tony is a conservative Chartered Accountant who understand tax, specialises in financial planning and understands aged care issues. Tony doesn’t charge a fee to meet you the first time. He will only suggest a service if there is a benefit to you and he will explain their fees before proceeding.

Tell him you found out about Wealth Definition from Kate Lambert at Daughterly Care and they will take extra special care of you.

Step 6: My Aged Care sends a “Home Care Consumer Readiness Letter” approximately 90 days before you are due to be “assigned” your Home Care Package.

The purpose of this “readiness letter” is to let you know your Home Care Package will be “assigned” in approximately 90 days so now is the time:

a) To Opt out of the National Prioritisation Queue if you are not yet ready to start your Home Care Package (you can opt back into the National Prioritisation Queue in your same place later i.e. the Health Department says you are not disadvantaged by opting out and this means your Home Care Package Funding can be given to someone else who needs support now.)

b) To Remove yourself from the National Prioritisation Queue if you no longer need a Home Care Package (your health has improved, you have been placed into a Nursing Home or passed away);

c) If you plan to accept your Home Care Package, then the Health Department wants you to “get ready” so that you can accept your Home Care Package as soon as it is assigned. The letter tells you to:

i) select your Home Care Approved Provider, hopefully Daughterly Care Community Services;

ii) organise your Home Care Fee Letter (our step 5 above), if not already done.

If you have decided that you want a new breed of Approved Provider like Daughterly Care Community Services please tell us as soon as you receive your assignment letter so we can prepare for your services.

Step 7: Now that you will be assigned your Home Care Package in 90 days, it’s time to choose your Approved Provider to administer your Government Subsidised Home Care Package (hopefully Daughterly Care Community Services).

This is the time to ask Daughterly Care Community Services what we can provide for you.

14 Reasons to choose Daughterly Care

Our Caregivers are exceptional. Meet 19 of our Caregivers here.

Some Approved Providers are charging large exit fees to try and stop you leaving if you are unhappy with their services. Conversely, some Approved Providers are charging $2,000 set up fees which is deducted from your Government funding. Daughterly Care charges no set up fees and, no exit fees if you move to another Approved Provider, no contingency fees.

Tip: When it comes to choosing your Approved Provider it is really important to compare service and value and on a ‘like-for-like’ basis. The easiest way to compare value is to ask for a Proposed Budget as that enables you to compare “like with like”. We have published the estimated number of hours of care, we provide when we administer your Home Care Package. However now is the time to meet and give you a proposed budget.

Advise My Aged Care that your chosen Approved Provider is Daughterly Care Community Services – you can do this even if your package hasn’t been assigned yet. The benefit of doing this is that My Aged Care will let us know, along with you, when your Government Funding comes through.

Step 8: My Aged Care advises you by letter that your Home Care Package funding has been “assigned” to you. The assignment letter looks like this:

 

Note: If you have informed My Aged Care that your Approved Provider will be Daughterly Care Community Services then they will write to us, as well as you, when your Home Care Package Funding is assigned so that we can start your services more quickly.

We need a copy of this letter or your referral code to access your file on the My Aged Care Government Portal.

Step 9: Sign a Home Care Agreement with your New Approved Provider (hopefully Daughterly Care Community Services) 

Your Approved Provider will document your goals and care needs and write a Service Care Plan that is unique to you.

Tip: Only sign a Home Care Agreement after you have reviewed their Proposed Budget and know what they will charge, and how much care and support you will actually receive.

My Aged Care pays your Government Funding to your chosen Approved Provider.