There was good news this week for some of the older Australians currently waiting to receive a Home Care Package (HCPs) with Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing a further 6,105 Level 1, 2 and 3 packages to help support people to live independently at home for longer.
The $325.7 million investment brings the total number of new packages introduced to the system over the last two years to more than 50,000 – at a cost of $3 billion.
The Government also revealed it had extended the deadline for the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety by three-and-a-half months due to COVID-19 – giving the Commissioners until 26 February 2021 to hand in their Final Report.
The Aged Care Minister, Senator Richard Colbeck, said the new packages were another step towards reducing waiting times for essential supports for older Australians.
Some still waiting years for a package
But as the latest data on the home care waiting list released in April shows, people who have been approved for a package are still waiting a considerable time to receive their package.
Waiting times for a basic Level 1 package are now at three to six months, while the average for a Level 2, 3 and Level 4 packages is 12-plus months – with some people waiting years on interim supports for their approved package.
Overall, 104,000 older Australians were on the waiting list for their approved level package – over 21,000 for the highest Level 4.
People’s health going downhill
While the majority (97.9%) were able to access a lower-level package or services through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), that is over 100,000 people who are not getting the right level of support they need to stay at home.
While they wait, a person’s health may deteriorate further – leaving them no choice but to enter residential aged care.
The CEO of advocacy group COTA Australia Ian Yates wants a maximum two-month wait time after assessment.
“It’s still unacceptable that people can wait for over a year for high care at home after they have been assessed as needing it,” he said.
We will need to pay more
It is clear more will need to be done – last year, the Department of Health told the Royal Commission it estimated it would take $5 billion just to clear the 100,000-waiting list without accommodating those people being assessed for services in the future.
So, we will need to pay more to provide this level of care at home.
As we reported here, the Royal Commission is currently looking at a variety of funding options to help Australians foot the bill for aged care costs including a Medicare-style levy, higher user contributions and increased income taxes.
There are no obvious winners here – but if we want to age in place and ensure our parents, grandparents and eventually ourselves have the care we deserve, then we must all be prepared to make sacrifices.
