Government denies media reports it has cut home care support

In January, the Department of Health and Aged Care published an updated Home Care Package Program Operational Manual, which details what residents can claim as part of their home care package. This week, The Daily Telegraph published an article claiming that the move was “secretive” and means consumers are being forced to pay “thousands for basics such as medication and mobility scooters”.

The Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells responded to the claims on Twitter saying “mobility scooters have not been excluded” from home care packages.

“Reports that the Albanese Government have changed the rules about what Home Care Package recipients can claim are incorrect and misleading,” she wrote.

The spokesperson for Department of Health and Aged Care told The SOURCE that mobility scooters “can be funded under home care packages (HCP).

“It is the provider’s role as part of their care management obligations to work with the care recipient to determine therapeutic need and appropriateness, using the inclusion/exclusion framework. “Providers have always had discretion to approve these items for care recipients as part of their mobility and dexterity goals.”

Home care providers have been able to approve funding for mobility scooters since the home care program launched in 2013. Greater clarity on how providers can “exercise their discretion” was published in 2020; and further clarity was included in the January update in response to “calls from providers and care recipients for even more detailed guidance.”

“The department will contact providers to determine if there is a need to further clarify that mobility scooters are an inclusion, to allay confusion. “Providers who do not understand their care management responsibilities in supporting care recipients to understand inclusions and exclusions will be referred to the regulator, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission,” the spokesperson said.

The article said home care recipients can no longer claim for non-Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medications, such as drugs for treating incontinence.

The spokesperson for the Department said, “The HCP Program is not a medicine program. Instead it provides support with medication management. This has always been the case, since the program launched in 2013.”

The concessional safety net threshold for medications in 2023 is $262.80, the lowest it has been since 2006. Beyond that point concession card holders receive medications for free. The Daily Telegraph also reported that climate control and microwaves can no longer be claimed under home care packages.

“Climate control and microwaves are general income expenses which all householders are expected to fund. The legislation excludes general income purchases,” the spokesperson said, except in special circumstances. “This [exclusion] has been in effect since 2013.”

The Daily Telegraph reported that allied health services such as physiotherapy will now be restricted to recipients who have “age-related functional decline”. The spokesperson from the Department said it is aware of “concerns” that the updated manual’s language on “age related decline” may be an issue for people with disability who are using their package to fund allied health.

“This is not the intent of those sections,” the spokesperson said. “The department will contact providers to determine if there is a need to further update the manuals to clarify that as these people have been approved for aged care by the Aged Care Assessment Teams, they remain entitled to access allied health to support them with their activities of daily living if listed in their care plan to allay confusion.”

The spokesperson also responded to concerns we raised with them about the amount that can be claimed under the Level 4 home care package.

“As per the My Aged Care website, $53,268.10 a year is the maximum funding for a Level 4. Any reports that funding was reduced are wrong,” the spokesperson said.