If you can't understand your monthly home care package statement, you're not alone! So we're going through a sample statement.
© Danielle Robertson Consulting Pty Ltd t/as DR Care Solutions
At DR Care Solutions, clients often ask us about the various lines of the monthly home care package (HCP) statement received from their in-home care service provider.
So today, let’s go through a sample monthly statement issued by a national in-home care service provider to their Level 4 HCP client. This particular client is a self-funded retiree.
The statement below relates to the services provided to that Level 4 HCP client for the month of April 2023. Let’s go through it line by line.
This is the “out of pocket” balance owed by the client for in-home care services provided the month before (March 2023). At the time this statement was issued, these funds had not yet been paid by the client.
These are the funds received by the in-home care service provider by the Australian Government (the “Government Contribution”) and the consumer (the “Customer Contribution”).
The “Government Contribution” comprises a Daily Subsidy rate which, for a Level 4 HCP, is $145.94[1] per day. In the statement, the Government Subsidy appears as $3,333.
One would naturally think that the Government Subsidy line should read $4,378.50 ($145.94 x 30 days of April). Here’s the catch, the Government Subsidy of $145.94 per day includes the Income-Tested Care Fee paid by the customer (see the “Customer Contribution: Income-Tested Care Fee” line) which for this self-funded retiree client is $34.85 per day ($34.85 x 30 days of April = $1,045.20). In reality, this particular client receives a Government Subsidy of $111.09 per day ($111.09 x 30 days of April = $3,333). Please stay with me!
The Government also pays Additional Supplements for consumers falling within particular categories, such as veterans, people with dementia and people needing feeding or oxygen assistance. In this example, our customer/client does not receive a supplement.
The “Customer Contribution” comprises an Income-Tested Care Fee which is an amount calculated by Centrelink according to income. This is the amount you must pay to be part of the HCP program and you must pay it daily, irrespective of whether you receive care visits daily. If you are not prepared to pay this daily income-tested care – a HCP is not for you!
In this example, the client through their Home Care Agreement with their service provider has arranged to pay this income-tested care fee amount ($1,045.20) to the service provider via a monthly automatic debit.
Please note, Centrelink reviews the income-tested care fee quarterly or when your financial circumstances change. This customer in this example is a self-funded retiree whose investments are doing well. Consequently, they are paying the maximum income-tested care fee (currently $34.85 per day).
As an additional note, this particular client’s income-tested care fee has continued to rise every six months. For example, it was $31.14 per day from 20 March 2021 and two years on it is now $34.85 per day.
The Client Top Up Fee mentioned relates to additional income-tested fee payment adjustment of the prior month as the income-tested fee rate for this client increased (to $34.85 per day) on 20 March 2023.
The Basic Daily Fee is a daily fee the service provider can charge and it is charged daily, irrespective of whether care is provided. For a Level 4 HCP, the service provider can charge a basic daily fee of $12.14 per day. The fee amount is set by Centrelink and the consumer is advised by separate letter (see below).[3]
In this example, the service provider is not charging a basic daily fee. Whether or not a provider charges this fee is worthy of an article itself[3]. Basically, it acts as a ‘savings account’ of sorts for future care. If you don’t use the funds during the term of your HCP, they will be refunded. For simplicity, my preference is to go with providers who do not charge this fee.
This is the total of the Government Contribution ($3,333) and the Customer Contribution ($1,045.20), bringing a total of $4,378.20.
Look out for next week’s blog where we go through the second half of the monthly statement.
Need help caring for a loved one? Please feel free to call me, Danielle Robertson, at any time for an initial discussion on how to set up the right care, support and assistance at the right time and in the right place.
[1] Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care: Aged Care Subsidies and Supplements
[2] Australian Government Government MyAgedCare: Home Care Package Costs and Fees - What Fees Might I have To Pay?