1. What is a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) in Home Care Package?
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A Home Care Package is Government funding to pay for in home aged care services for Senior Australians, to enable you to stay in your home for longer and delay moving into a nursing home prematurely, or at all. The Home Care Package Program has been reformed and is now offered on a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) basis. This means you, the consumer, now has the power to make decisions about the aged care support you need, within the Government’s Program Rules. You also have the power to choose your Home Care Package Provider and transfer to another Approved Provider if you are not satisfied.
Knowledge is power, that’s why we have written this Definitive Guide to Home Care Packages to educate and empower you. Please take your time to read it and also feel welcome to ring us and we will answer your questions. Better still, why not come along to our Free Information Session: How to Avoid the Nursing Home where you will learn many valuable tips on how to apply for your Home Care Package and what you really need to do to Avoid the Nursing Home.
For many, the 10 minutes one-on-one chat at the end of the seminar with one of our Care Managers or the presenter is the most valuable benefit because it is advice tailored to you.
We all know the Government Subsidises Aged Care in Nursing Homes…
… unfortunately a staggering number of older Australians and their adult children, Enduring Guardians and Enduring Power of Attorneys don’t know that the Government also provides 4 levels of Government Funding or Home Care Packages (HCPs), to help senior Australians pay for their aged care and nursing support in their own home – this is called the Home Care Package Program.
When you choose Daughterly Care to be your Approved Provider, Home Care Packages are fully funded for Pensioners and Subsidised for Part Pensioners and Self-Funded Elders. More about that in Section 4 of our Guide. First, read on to find out how much care a Home Care Package provides and who is eligible to receive one.
How Many Hours of Support and Care per Week does Daughterly Care Community Services Provide with your Home Care Package?
Home Care Package Level | Hours^ Care Per Week No Basic Daily Care Fee (BDCF)* | Hours^ of Care Per Week With Cognitive Supplement |
---|---|---|
Level 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Level 2 | 2.5 | 3 |
Level 3 | 6 | 7 |
Level 4 | 9.5 | 11 |
There are 4 levels of Government subsidised Consumer Directed Care (CDC) Home Care Packages. (Valid from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024)
Consumer Directed Care Package | Home Care Package Per annum p/person | 11.5% Supplement* Per annum p/person | Total Govt. Subsidy Per annum p/person |
Level 1 | $10,271.10 | $1,182.60 | $11,453.70 |
Level 2 | $18,063.85 | $2,076.85 | $20,140.70 |
Level 3 | $39,310.50 | $4,522.35 | $43,832.85 |
Level 4 | $59,593.55 | $6,854.70 | $66,448.25 |
*A 11.5% pa supplement is payable for the following conditions:
1. Cognition supplement or
2. Veterans’ mental health supplement
Oxygen and enteral Feeding supplement
There are also Viability and Hardship supplements.
Am I eligible for a Government subsidised Home Care Package?
Eligibility for a Government subsidised Home Care Package (HCP) is determined by your in home care needs which are assessed by your local Aged Care Assessment Team (commonly known as ACAT).
ACAT operate out of your local public hospital. They visit your loved one in their home to assess:
- their in home care needs;
- decide which of the 4 levels of Home Care Package they need;
- decide what priority they will have on the waiting list for their Home Care Package called the National Prioritisation List (NPL), managed by My Aged Care.
You don’t need to read the full Government Guidelines for in Home Care Package issued by the Australian Government, Department of Social Services, here is the eligibility criteria:
‘for a person to be eligible for a Home Care Package, the person must:
- be assessed as having needs that can only be met by a co-ordinated Home Care Package of home care and nursing services;
- be assessed as requiring a low level of home care (for home care levels 1 or 2) or a high level of home care (for home care levels 3 or 4);
- have expressed a preference to live at home (includes a resident in independent living and assisted living (hostel) in a retirement village);
- be able to remain living at home with the support of a Home Care Package;
- for a person who is not an aged person – have no other care facilities or care services more appropriate to meet the person’s needs.
Are self-funded Elders eligible for a Government Funded Home Care Package?
Yes, they are.
Home Care Packages are a universal health care benefit available to all Elders whose care needs require the need for co-ordinated assistance. The international evidence is that when in home care is professional and of a good quality then in home care:
✓ prevents hospitalisations by getting health issues sorted earlier by your Caregiver observing changes and proactively taking you to the doctors;
✓ delays nursing home placement (often for years);
✓ it can help most Elders avoid the nursing home altogether;
✓ retains family and social connections;
✓ assists Elders to maximise their health, wellness and independence for as long as possible; and
✓ enables more joyful living (which prevents or reduces depression as they experience less losses than when they move into a Nursing Home).
There is specific financial information for self-funded Elders on our page “what are the costs of a Home Care Package“ including the real financial benefit of a home care package for a self-funded person after they have paid their Income-Tested Care Fee.
Who gets priority access to a Government subsidised Consumer Directed Care (CDC) Home Care Package?
From the 27th of February 2017, the ACAT (Aged Care Assessment Team) decides the priority allocation of Home Care Packages (HCPs). Elders on the National Prioritisation List (NPL) are prioritised solely based on the date of their ACAT Assessment and the priority (low, medium, high) that ACAT gives them.
Under the Aged Care Act 1997, Elders who identify with, or belong to, one or more of the following 9 groups are recognised by the Government as having special needs:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities;
- non-English speaking (culturally and linguistically diverse [CALD]) backgrounds;
- live in rural or remote areas;
- financially or socially disadvantaged;
- veterans, including the spouse, widow or widower of a veteran;
- homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless;
- parents separated from their children by forced adoption or removal;
- people who are care leavers (which is a person who was placed into an orphanage or children’s home, or foster home as a child); and/or
- identifies as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community.
So if you identify with any of these groups, please tell the ACAT Assessor. There are other factors that affect your priority status such as legally blind, age, existence of support, care already in place and ability for the carer and Elder to cope.
On the 27th of February 2017, the Government funding for each Elder’s Home Care Package became truly ‘Consumer Directed Care (CDC)’ because Elders and their families or Enduring Guardians received the power to transfer their Government funding away from their Current Approved Provider who:
- doesn’t provide quality Caregivers, Live in Carers and Nurses;
- doesn’t answer the phone;
- doesn’t listen;
- doesn’t provide good service;
- doesn’t provide fair value or enough hours of in home care and support to transfer to a New Breed of Approved Provider who does… like Daughterly Care Community Services.
- Makes lots of administration errors that eat up your Home Care Package funds incorrectly.
The Definitive Guide to Government Funded Consumer Directed In Home Aged Care Packages
1. What is a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) in Home Care Package? Current Page
2. How many hours of support or care can I receive for my Home Care Package?
3. What can a Government Subsidised Home Care Package pay for?
4. What are the costs of a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) Home Care Package?
5. What does Consumer Directed Care (CDC) Home Care Package mean?
6. Consumers’ 9 New Rights under Consumer Directed Care (CDC)
7. How do you apply for a Government Subsidised Home Care Package?
8. Are you approved or assigned a Government Funded Home Care Package?
9. Should Self-Funded Seniors accept a Level 2 Home Care Package?
10. Should Self-Funded Seniors accept a Level 3 or 4 Home Care Package?
11. Should a Pensioner accept a Level 1 or 2 Home Care Package?
12. How do I start my Home Care Package?
13. How do I transfer my Home Care Package to Daughterly Care Community Services?
14. How do I know if the Home Care Package fees I’m being charged are fair?
15. How will Consumer Directed Care (CDC) benefit my loved one?
16. Is Consumer Directed Care (CDC) working?
17. Will Consumer Directed Care (CDC) make it easier for my loved one to stay at home?
18. What happens to the Unspent Funds in my Government Funded / Subsidised Home Care Package?
19. If I hold a DVA Card can I have an In Home Care Package too?
20. Can I take leave from my Home Care Package?
21. Frequently asked questions about Consumer Directed Care (CDC) Home Care Packages
Discover the secret to getting more out of your Consumer Directed Care (CDC) Home Care Package!
Do you have a question that isn’t answered here or just looking for more information? Browse our FAQs.
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