If you live in a retirement village the statistics show that you will live five years longer than the average Australian, and your chances of moving into an aged care home are significantly lower.
So, here’s the challenge. Because you are likely to be aged 85 or older and if you have to move into a home, how do you rustle up the money for a lump sum payment or to pay the daily fees, which could be $100 a day or more?
Organising the move from your village home will be stressful enough; waiting for the sale of the home to the next resident to receive your cash is really challenging.
Unofficially many village operators have helped residents by providing the cash to pay the daily aged care home fees as a deduction against the future proceeds of the sale of the home. Village operators in NSW have now worked with the Government to formalise this process.
This week the Kevin Anderson, the NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation – which includes the ageing portfolio – announced a new ‘aged care rule’ for retirement village residents.
It says if a village resident requires an immediate move to an aged care facility and hasn’t got the cash themselves to pay the costs, the village operator will be required to pay the Daily Accommodation Payment (the DAP) until the village home is taken by a new resident.
This regulation is expected to be passed by Parliament by Christmas, giving residents and families formal confidence in the future, rather than a general understanding, which is good news.
