I have been mulling over this in my head a fair bit lately, so it was time to put numbers down on paper and run some scenarios.
If you find this all a bit confusing, imagine how hard it will be to understand week to week if you have cognitive decline, no family support, are not good with numbers. And how difficult it will be for providers to track and get right in their accounts departments.
COMPARING HOME CARE PACKAGES & SUPPORT AT HOME for SELF-FUNDED RETIREES & FULL PENSIONERS – Out of Pocket Costs and Support Levels
For the purposes of this comparison we will look at the top levels of support, and each end of the funding spectrum, being full Centrelink pension recipients, and self-funded retirees who do not qualify for a Health Care Card.
Top Level Package:
HCP = $ 61000 per year (HCP minus Care Management & Package Management fees = $ 44000)
S@H = $ 78000 per year (S@H minus capped Care Management fees = $ 70000)
SCENARIO – USING MAXIMUM FUNDED HOURS, SINGLE CARE CATEGORY COMPARISON
(Assuming $150 per hour for clinical services, $80 per hour for Support services)
HCP costs assume 28% for combined Care Management & Package Management
| SELF-FUNDED RETIREE (no HCC) | FULL CENTRELINK PENSIONER | |
| HOME CARE PACKAGES | ||
| Out of Pocket Costs | Maximum $256 / week | $0 (BDF is rarely paid) |
| Hours per week | 10.5 hours @$80 per hour | 10.5 hours @ $80 per hour |
| SUPPORT @ HOME | ||
| ALL ‘EVERYDAY LIVING’ CATEGORY | ||
| Out of Pocket Costs | $ 64 per hour | $ 14 per hour |
| Subsidy Use | $ 16 per hour | $ 66 per hour |
| Hours per Week | 16 | 16 |
| Cost if full utilisation | $ 1024 per week | $ 224 per week |
| ALL ‘INDEPENDENCE’ CATEGORY | ||
| Out of Pocket Costs | $ 40 per hour | $ 4 per hour |
| Subsidy Use | $ 40 per hour | $ 76 per hour |
| Hours per Week | 16 | 16 |
| Cost if full utilisation | $ 640 per week | $ 64 per week |
| ALL ‘CLINICAL’ CATEGORY | ||
| Out of Pocket Costs | $ 0 per hour | $ 0 per hour |
| Subsidy Use | $ 150 per hour | $ 150 per hour |
| Hours per Week | 9 | 9 |
| Costs if full utilisation | $ 0 | $ 0 |
TYPICAL SCENARIO:
Client requires Personal Care Assistance
Due to workplace relations requirements providers have minimum 2 hours shifts
Therefore, care usually consists of a combination of Personal Care, Social Support and Domestic Assistance (such as making beds, tidying, mopping bathroom floor, helping with dishes)
For this example we will set up the care as 2 hours, 5 times per week (M-F).
Personal Care – 1 hour per day (M-F)
Social Support – 3 hours per week
Domestic Assistance – 2 hours per week
SELF-FUNDED RETIREE (no HCC)
Out of pocket costs based on the above scenario – $ 448 per week or $23 000 per year
(At $80 per hour Domestic Assistance will cost $64 per hour, Personal Care and Social Support will cost $40 per hour)
FULL PENSIONER
Out of pocket costs based on the above scenario – $ 60 per week, or $3 120 per year
(At $80 per hour Domestic Assistance will cost $14 per hour, Personal Care and Social Support will cost $4 per hour)