Second raft of reforms pass Senate
The Albanese Government’s second piece of aged care legislation has passed through both houses of parliament.
The Albanese Government’s second piece of aged care legislation has passed through both houses of parliament.
Following a successful passage through the House of Representatives on 1 September, the Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill passed the Senate last week.
Among three major proposals, the bill targets the Home Care Packages Program, banning exit fees and enabling the capping of administration and management costs.
Responding to the home care reforms, Older Persons Advocacy Network CEO Craig Gear said in a statement a mechanism now needs to be developed to ensure aged care service providers do not try to recoup the costs in other ways.
“Older people must also be provided with more detailed information about what these fees actually cover – in some instances additional administration costs are incurred after a finite number of phone calls or case management hours.”
Brokerage fees also need to be addressed said Mr Gear. “We have had a report of an older person who was charged $800 to process an invoice for an $8,000 chair – this is simply unacceptable.”
Introduced to the upper chamber on 26 September by Labor Senator Katy Gallagher, the care reform bill also legislates mandatory requirements for residential aged care homes to have registered nurses onsite 24/7 by 1 July 2023 and proposes increased financial transparency from providers.
The care reform bill’s passing came a day after the federal government made a $3.9-billion budget commitment to the aged care sector.
Main image: Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells celebrates the bill’s passing on Twitter
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The $800 for processing an invoice – maybe it was also for the time the Case Manager took to provide options to the client for the chair, the time it took in discussions with the client about appropriateness of the chair, the client possibly changing their mind about the chair and several other reasons maybe why it cost this much. I really don’t think a provider just “processes the invoice”!
This should of happened a long time ago!Providers should never have been allowed to set their own fees! They are kicking up a storm because they don’t want anybody knowing how much they steal off us with no accountability or transparency! It should be number one on the list !