28-Oct-2011 THE daily fee for aged care will have to almost double to fund the extra
beds needed over the next decade, says an industry report.
Nursing home residents who opt to pay an upfront bond to enter a nursing home might need to find $361,689, up from an average $233,000, if the true cost of building accommodation is to be funded by the system, says the report by Deloitte.
The report was released a week before a new aged care funding system drawn up by the Productivity Commission is unveiled by the government.
The sector is in crisis, with nursing home providers claiming the current rigid federal funding model fails to cover the true cost of aged care.
Thirty per cent or more than 2400 of the aged care places recently released by the government could not be allocated because providers could not afford to build them under the current model.
Free trial
One in six people in need of high care in a nursing home is waiting up to nine months for a bed. The Productivity Commission was commissioned by the government to develop new regulatory and funding options for aged care.
Its draft report, released in January, recommended accommodation bonds for high care nursing home patients that reflected the actual cost of a bed. Alternatively, pensioners entering aged care could sell their home and buy a pensioner bond. Another option would allow residents to withdraw equity from their home, similar to a reverse mortgage.
The commission said an independent authority should be charged with determining how much nursing homes were paid. The final report is not expected to differ from the draft and the aged care sector backs the recommendations.
Aged Care Association of Australia chief executive Rod Young, who commissioned the Deloitte report, hopes reform can be achieved now industry, consumers and unions are aligned in support of the commission's model.
Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive Patrick McClure, who co-commissioned the report, urged Coalition and independent MPs to get behind the changes.
Nursing home residents who opt to pay an upfront bond to enter a nursing home might need to find $361,689, up from an average $233,000, if the true cost of building accommodation is to be funded by the system, says the report by Deloitte.
The report was released a week before a new aged care funding system drawn up by the Productivity Commission is unveiled by the government.
The sector is in crisis, with nursing home providers claiming the current rigid federal funding model fails to cover the true cost of aged care.
Thirty per cent or more than 2400 of the aged care places recently released by the government could not be allocated because providers could not afford to build them under the current model.
Free trial
One in six people in need of high care in a nursing home is waiting up to nine months for a bed. The Productivity Commission was commissioned by the government to develop new regulatory and funding options for aged care.
Its draft report, released in January, recommended accommodation bonds for high care nursing home patients that reflected the actual cost of a bed. Alternatively, pensioners entering aged care could sell their home and buy a pensioner bond. Another option would allow residents to withdraw equity from their home, similar to a reverse mortgage.
The commission said an independent authority should be charged with determining how much nursing homes were paid. The final report is not expected to differ from the draft and the aged care sector backs the recommendations.
Aged Care Association of Australia chief executive Rod Young, who commissioned the Deloitte report, hopes reform can be achieved now industry, consumers and unions are aligned in support of the commission's model.
Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive Patrick McClure, who co-commissioned the report, urged Coalition and independent MPs to get behind the changes.
Comment