New fee arrangements for Home Care packages will begin on 1 July 2014. Means-testing via Centrelink will determine what care recipients will be asked to contribute to the cost of their care. For the new Home Care packages there will be two fees – a basic fee and a care fee.
The basic fee will be calculated at 17.5 per cent of the single basic pension (currently this would total $3,163).
On top of this basic fee, there is an additional means-tested care fee. Self-funded retirees who miss out on a part pension due to the income test will pay a care fee of $5,000 a year, plus 50% of any income above the income level cut off for Age Pension, capped at $10,000 a year and at $60,000.00 a lifetime. No one will be asked to pay for more than the cost of their care. (Living Longer Living Better – Fairer means-testing for Home Care packages Fact Sheet, Australian Government – Department of Health and Ageing, May 2012).