Home Care Packages Government Funding increased on 1 July 2019

Once a year on the 1^st of July the Government Funding for the 4 different levels of Home Care Packages increases, as detailed in the tables below.

If you already have a Home Care Package with Daughterly Care Community Services you don’t need to do anything, you will notice the increased income on your July 2019 statement. It’s only a small increase for inflation so it WILL NOT CHANGE the amount of care you can receive each week. Remember the Government will be increasing their fees on 20 September 2019 (and 20 March 2020) so we need to allow for those impending increases.

If you don’t have a Home Care Package then you are missing out on a fantastic universal financial benefit for ALL Elders with “eligible care needs” provided by the Australian Government.  Home Care Packages are designed to help pay for the in home aged care costs for Older Australians so you can live well at home for all your days. As you can see from the tables below a Level 4 Home Care Package with a Cognitive Supplement is worth $66,448.25 per person, per annum for each year you live at home.

We call “in home care” … “health care for Seniors”

The reason we call “in home care health care for seniors” is because the evidence is that quality in home care has been proven to:

•  reduce hospitalisations;
• delay placement into a Nursing Home; and
• best of all, help you avoid the Nursing Home altogether, so that you live all your days joyfully in your own comfortable home, where you stay in control of your life.

Even self-funded retirees are entitled to a Government Subsidised Home Care Package

The Government doesn’t consider your assets, just your income, when assessing your self-funded retiree status for a Home Care Package. Self-funded retirees still receive a Home Care Package if they have eligible care needs as assessed by ACAT, they just pay a greater contribution towards their Home Care Package, called the Income Tested Care Fee.  Whatever Income Tested Care Fee you pay – the Government withholds that same dollar amount of their Government Funding so that you end up with exactly the same Home Care Package Income as a Pensioner.

You can read all about the Income Tested Care Fee for part-pensioners and self-funded retirees on this page. The instructions for applying for  a Government Subsidised Home Care Package are on this page.

The new Daily Funding Levels of Home Care Packages from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 are:

Home Care Subsidies and Supplements

These rates are applicable from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020

So the Annual Funding for Home Care Packages from 1 July 2019 is:

The new Daily Funding for the Cognitive Supplement for Home Care Packages from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 are:

Home Care Supplements

1. Dementia and Cognition and Veterans’ Supplement

So the Annual Funding for a Home Care Package with a Cognitive Supplement from 1 July 2019 is:

The Daughterly Care page What is a Home Care Package? has been updated with these changes.

The source for data on this page is:
https://agedcare.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/06_2019/aged_care_subsidies_and_supplements_new_rates_of_daily_payments_from_1_july_2019.pdf