No Two Home Care Package Providers Are The Same
| Wednesday March 31A Home Care Package is a fixed amount of funding allocated by the government to an older person to provide them with services to remain living independently at home. The amount of funding under four separate assessed levels will depend on the individual’s care needs as determined at an ACAT assessment.
Since 2017, Home Care Packages have been consumer-directed. This means that funding is allocated directly to the consumer who has the right to choose the provider of their choice and to determine the types of care they wish to have delivered. It is also possible to have a self-managed option with a provider.
But how do you best go about finding an appropriate Home Care Package provider? Quite simply, it is a minefield as no two providers are the same!
Firstly, the costs for actual services will vary from provider to provider, as will fees such as exit fees, set fees for each km travelled in certain circumstances and additional administration fees for external providers. Then there are the care and package management costs which can vary widely. Based on my analysis of over 30 Home Care Package providers, these can range from around 15% to as high as 39% dependent on the level of package. Clearly, the higher the level of management costs the greater the impact on the level of care hours that can be delivered. Consideration also needs to be given to the types of services required and the ability of the provider to provide these in a timely and regular manner.
North Shore Retirement and Aged Care Consulting has undertaken extensive research of all major Home Care Package providers servicing the North Shore, Northern Beaches and surrounds, and have additionally undertaken interviews with many of these companies. We are able to provide a shortlist of appropriate providers based on care needs and required services, who are able to offer a high level of service at reasonable fee levels.
