The Liberal and Nationals Government will deliver more support for older Australians, with a half a billion dollar ($552.9 million) increase to aged care funding including the release of 10,000 high-level home care packages within weeks.
\nWe understand that older Australians prefer to receive support and services in their own home and live independently for as long as possible.
\nThe 10,000 new high-level home care packages deliver important services at home, such as complex clinical care from a range of providers, nursing and mobility care, nutrition, hydration and meal preparation and transport support.
\nThe packages and will be available in early 2019 and will be spilt across 5,000 level three and 5,000 level four care packages, providing up to $50,000 per person in services each year.
\nThe $287 million home care expansion is on top of the extra 20,000 packages funded in the past year, which combined will result in a record 40 per cent increase in the number of people receiving home care packages.
\nWe will also ease the cost of living for 70,000 older Australians by reducing the daily maximum fees payable by up to $400 per year for level one packages, $200 a year for level two packages and $100 a year for a level three packages.
\nOlder Australians who are not currently charged this maximum fee will still benefit because we will increase the value of packages by providing a top-up payment for additional services by providers that is the same amount as the fee reduction.
\nWe are also investing more in providers that support older Australians living in rural and remote areas and people who have been affected by homelessness.
\nThese providers face unique circumstances and cost pressures and we want to ensure their sustainability.
\nThe Viability Supplement for eligible residential aged care providers is to be increased by 30 per cent, through an investment of $101.9 million.
\nCurrently, more than 550 services, accounting for around 13,500 residential care places, receive the Viability Supplement to offset higher care costs in regional areas.
\nThe Homeless Supplement will also be increased by 30 per cent, through a $9.3 million funding injection. Currently, 42 residential services receive the homeless supplement on behalf of more than 1,700 residents.
\nWe will also invest $98 million to fund increased payments to GPs to attend residential aged care homes to treat patients. This recognises the important role of GPs in supporting the health and care of patients in residential aged care.
\nThese initiatives reflect the rollout of our Government\u2019s unprecedented aged care improvements to help ensure older Australians receive the care they want and deserve, where and when they need it.
\nWe have invested an extra $1 billion a year in aged care services since 2013 and have continued our record investment through the 2018\/19 Budget\u2019s $5 billion boost over the next four years.
\nBecause without a strong economy and getting our budget back into balance, we can\u2019t make these important decisions. This is why a strong economy matters; because it guarantees the essential services Australians rely on without higher taxes.
\nIt is this strong economic management that ensures we continue to invest record amounts of funding in aged care and other vital health initiatives including mental health, life-saving medicines, Medicare and public hospitals.
\nEven as the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety goes about its\u2019 important work, our commitment to improving care for older Australians will continue at full pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Liberal and Nationals Government will deliver more support for older Australians, with a half a billion dollar ($552.9 million) increase to aged care funding including the release of 10,000 high-level home care packages within weeks. We understand that older Australians prefer to receive support and services in their own home and live independently for … Continue reading “Boosting support for older Australians”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}