From 1 July 2014, payment of accommodation charges by residents in aged care homes will become more flexible if they are charged accommodation bonds (normally paid for self-care or hostel care living).
The new arrangements will only apply for residents entering self-care or hostel care on or after 1 July 2014.
There will be three levels of pricing:
Level 1: where the resident pays $60.00 per day or a lump sum towards a refundable accommodation deposit of maximum $238,845.
Level 2: where the resident pays at least $85.00 per day or a lump sum towards a refundable accommodation deposit of maximum $406,037.00; or
Level 3: where amounts greater than Level 2 are payable by the resident.
All approved providers are required to publish their accommodation price for anything in the Level 2 or Level 3 range: the provider must publish a self assessment of the reasonableness of prices in the Level 2 range or get government pre-approval for prices in the Level 3 range. All residents may choose to pay for accommodation as a daily payment or by way of a refundable accommodation deposit or a combination of both.
Retention amounts will not be able to be deducted from refundable accommodation deposits from 1 July 2014 onwards but the provider can increase the daily accommodation payment by an amount that compensates it for the impact of losing the retention deduction.
For clients operating aged care facilities, this ensuing readjustment of available accommodation bond money should be factored into future budgets.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
