Another week of auditing monthly statements of Government Subsidised Home Care Packages for clients who are wondering if they should transfer their Home Care Package to Daughterly Care Community Services.
This week I discovered another three Approved Providers who charge secret undisclosed fees of 10% pa to Elderly in home care clients.
This unethical behaviour has to stop.
Don’t take my word for it – let’s examine this actual de-identified Approved Provider Monthly Statement together. The full statement is below plus we have magnified the relevant parts.
Firstly, this Old-School Approved Provider is an Australian Faith-based Charity. I mention that because the average person like me, would normally automatically believe they can trust a Faith-based Charity to be ethical and morally right in the way they treat Elderly people.
See here, it says the Administration fee for administering the Government Subsidised Home Care package is 20%pa. Here it is magnified:
And see here …they state in writing to our Elderly client that their Case Management Fee is 0%. Here it is magnified:
That is an outright lie.
Let me show you why.
See here under the heading “Weekly External Services / Purchases” it says the Daughterly Care fee is $784.30 and then it has six characters “+CM fee”.
Those 6 characters don’t make sense to most Elders and their busy adult children who help advocate for them.
Let me tell you what is really happening.
My client, like all my educated intelligent clients, has not picked this up – and that’s exactly what the Old-School Approved Providers are banking on – you, not picking up their slight of hand.
The purported Daughterly Care fee is NOT what we charged the Charity Old-School Approved Provider for the care of our client.
No, our actual fee has been increased by 10%.
Why?
Well see this code “+CM fee” that’s code for “plus 10% Case Management Fee charged by the Approved Provider, hidden in the Daughterly Care fee”.
So the Old-School Approved Provider has inflated the actual Daughterly Care fee by 10% and called it “+CM fee”
Why have they HIDDEN THEIR 10% Case Management fee inside the external care supplier’s fee.
Simple.
Because they can.
They don’t want to be transparent and disclose to their client their true fees in their expenses section on the Monthly Home Care Statement.
Why be transparent and honest and state you charge 20% for Administration and 10% for Case Management when you can hide your 10% Case Management Fee inside an artificially inflated care provider’s fee?
Because they can.
I don’t know why so many Approved Providers are choosing to be deceitful in their accounting and reporting practices to their Elderly Clients.
But what I do know is this:
1. It’s against the Government’s Home Care Package Program Guidelines which states in Clause 3.2.1. “The Home Care provider is the fund holder and will administer the budget in a transparent manner, meeting quality and accountability standards.”
The Government Guidelines also say, “All information must be provided in a format that is simple for consumers to understand.”
The fact is that the Government has gone to a lot of trouble to ensure that Elderly people get a Monthly Statement that is transparent and easy to understand.
I’m sorry, but saying your Case Management Fee is 0% and then hiding a 10% Case Management Fee inside the external care provider’s fee – that is NOT transparent and “+CM fee” is not “easy to understand”;
2. Daughterly Care did not agree to this deceit. We did not agree to having our fee inflated to enable a secret commission to be collected in our name. We discovered it when helping our clients make the right financial decision; to stay with their Current Approved Provider or move to Daughterly Care;
3. Secret commissions are against the law;
4. It’s unfair and it’s frankly un-Australian to take advantage of vulnerable Elderly Australians in this way. It’s an abuse of power.
5. It is false and misleading to state that your Case Management fee is 0% and then hide an undisclosed secret case management 10% fee in the external care provider’s fees;
6. If Elderly clients, and their adult children and grand-children, don’t stand up and say “no” to this unethical behaviour – it will continue. It is already widespread amongst Old-School Approved Providers. I have discovered over 10 Approved Providers charging 10% more in fees than they disclose.
If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would not believe it of an Australian Charity Approved Provider of in home care.
And I don’t expect you to believe me without seeing it with your eyes either, that’s why I included the de-identified statement in this blog.
And now that you have seen it with your own eyes, you need to stand up and put a stop to this…vote against secret fees now on the poll below.
Tell me your views, is stating you have a 0% Monthly Case Management fee and then hiding 10% in the external supplier’s fee ethical? Is it taking financial advantage of Elders? Is it financial abuse?
Please forward this blog onto your friends and family, and ask them to vote.
Daughterly Care does not charge secret fees and we will continue to educate and empower Elderly consumers and their adult children about unethical practices… because we want Elderly Australians to be treated better than this!
Kate Lambert
B.Ec F.Fin
Daughterly Care CEO & Co-Founder
Hi Kate
How fortunate you are able to make so many people aware of the injustice that is taking place. Honesty goes a long way and the people carrying out this dishonesty will one day be elderly and how will they like being treated and cheated like they were worth nothing… what goes round, comes round… Go you Kate.!!
Thank you Kate for uncovering yet another unethical practice of these so called trustworthy providers that leaves our elders vulnerable. So proud to be working for such a great company that is dedicated to creating the best care for our aged care community.
It is disgraceful how easily the elderly are being ‘ripped off’. If it were not for your investigation on this subject how would anyone know.
Keep it up Kate
This is really despicable to try and deceive people and surely is against the law.. but I understand people don’t always see through involved statements, and what is more it is always the elderly that people can deceive . .Also, it seems it is companies that they are sure would not be doing such a thing as they are quite often religion orientated.,
Enough fodder for 4 corners!
Trust is rusty!
How sad that firstly reputable and trusted charity based companies, are first found taking advantage of vulnerable youth, and now taking advantage of vulnerable elders. Is there no humanity in faith-based companies? Are they just out for the quick dollar because they can? The Government has changed the Aged Care industry because they found it to be corrupt and inefficient. so now we have a chance to get rid of any corrupt companies by exposing their false practices, or at the very least, making them comply with Government standards and being honest. Well done Kate Lambert and Daughterly Care for helping to make companies accountable to the elders they care for.
This is certainly a
You are my hero!
After working in home care field for few months I found it is really unfair for the elderly to be treated like this.
Thank you for standing up for the elderly! They need to be REAL cared and treat in respect!
Thank you for uncovering this, and I learn a great deal about this from you!
Thanks for sharing this. Its very shameful. Its very important the government actually know about it. This must be reported as if we don’t speak out this will continue. Pls contact My Aged Care and inform them.
I’m searching and digging at the moment to find out more about the sneaky practices of some of these homecare package providers, as frankly, I smell a rat.
I find it dispicable that the in home care the government generously provides so I can spend my last few years at home is not getting to me.
As mentioned in your article, fees appear to be well hidden in the statements, but not only that, from what I can see more than half of the money provided to pay the home care workers is being gobbled up by the package providers!
For example, I may get charged $65.00 an hour for home care, but the provider takes $31.00 an hour of it for their own pocket + their hidden fees!!
This means that over half of the funds provided by the Government for MY CARE is actually just going straight into their own pocket, for virtually just paying the bill.
If they did a lot I could understand it, but they don’t. I’m self managed, and my requirements are very straightforward, regular and simple.
Just in home care and the lawn mowed once a month and that’s it.
It makes me feel like I’m being robbed of about half the hours of care I should be getting, and not just me being short changed, but the aged care workers too. They are also being underpayed for their hard work, and I feel sorry for them.
It irks me to see behaviours like this as I have late stage cancer plus mobility issues and can’t get the hours I need with in home care because of the above mentioned scandalous behaviour.
Maybe somewhere out there there is an honest HPP who is honest and caring, but I haven’t found them yet.
Hello Trevor, I am very sorry to read you have cancer and mobility issues. Good Approved Providers do NOT hide fees, they are transparent and since I first wrote these articles the Government has improved their compliance requirements. Unfortunately many people don’t understand the cost of a business employing an employee. For example, the award (Govt requirement) to employ a Care Worker is around $39 per hour in April 2024 when you wrote this. Plus the business has to pay superannuation (another Govt requirement) which was another 11% of all wages in April 2024 and increases to 11.5% from 1 July 2024. Plus the Govt requires businesses pay workers compensation insurance calculated on the cost of total wages and that can be another 10% of all wages. Then a business has to pay for insurances like Professional Indemnity and Third Party Property Insurance. Plus Approved Providers like Daughterly Care who provide Government Funded in home care are required by law / Government requirements to meet the Aged Care Quality and Safety Standards and therefore have to pay wages to train and supervise their staff. Not to mention paying the wages of a Rostering Team who match clients to Caregivers, Registered Nurses (who are required to Review the care needs of a client with Government Funded in Home Care Package). Then there is the cost of special software like MyCarePortal, which provides up to the minute Unspent Funds for every client and emails every client their Monthly Statement for their Home Care Package showing the Government Funding the client has, less what services were paid and fees charged plus a copy of the invoices paid. And the wages cost of the accountants who reconcile what was expected from the Government versus what was actually received and who have to collect the Income Tested Care paid by self-funded clients as per Government rules. What about the Work Health and Safety Manager and so on. And there is no point being in business unless you can make a profit after all the business owner is liable for so many aspects of what can go wrong so they need a profit buffer to manage accidents etc You mentioned you just need the lawn moved and in home care. I think we are very fortunate to live in country where the Government pays for your in home care and lawn moving, physio, OT, podiatry, cleaning, personal care, cooking and medication prompting to mention just a few of the services. The Australian Government also pays for Community Palliative Care in your home. We are very fortunate.