Home Care – Impact of new legislation from 1 July 2019
The 1 July 2019 changes require providers to publish standardised pricing schedules on My Aged Care and restructure Administration Costs into new categories. Here's a full breakdown of the required templates for pricing, other costs, and care management.
P From 1 July 2019, the government wants Home Care Providers to improve transparency around their pricing, making it easier for consumers to compare. Therefore you need to make the following changes:
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Inclusion of your Pricing Schedule in the Home Care Agreement – the schedule will include a single price for the most common services. If you contract services out to other providers, you can include a minimum and maximum price taking into account the various charges from your contractors.
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The Pricing Schedule needs to include the 5 common home care service categories as shown in the table below.
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The Pricing templates (as shown) need to be completed and published on the My Aged Care website by 1 July 2019.
| Price for Common Services | How the provider delivers services | Standard Hours | Non-Standard Hours | Saturday | Sunday | Public Holiday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal care (Per hour) | Provider display one of the following, against each service: By the provider's staff / Through other service providers / By own staff or other provider | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| Nursing (Per hour) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |
| Cleaning and household tasks (Per hour) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |
| Light gardening (Per hour) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |
| In-home respite (Per hour) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Provider's most common price, for each service. Where providers offer genuine client choice of different prices for a service, providers can provide a minimum and maximum price point.
- Other Costs will replace the current Administration Costs and include:
a. Package Management Costs – based on the cost of managing the package which may include preparing the monthly consumer statements, managing package funds and compliance and quality assurance activities.
b. Maximum Exit Amount.
c. Per kilometre fee if you charge the consumer for staff travel to/from their place. If you contract this out, you will include a minimum and maximum price.
d. Any Other Administration Costs will be included in your unit price. This may include costs such as marketing, office rent, insurance etc.
Package Management (per level):
| Item | Basis | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package management | Per fortnight | $ | $ | $ | $ |
Other fixed costs:
| Item | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum exit amount | Max. Total | $ |
| Staff travel costs to visit you | Per km | $ |
| Separate costs when you want to receive services from a different provider | Provider to select 'Yes' or 'No' | Provider free text – mandatory field if 'Yes', optional field if 'No' – maximum 500 characters |
- Care management may include:
- reviewing the Home Care Agreement and care plan
- coordination and scheduling of services
- ensuring the care is aligned with other supports
- providing a point-of-contact for the home care recipient or their support network
- ensuring care is culturally appropriate
- identifying and addressing risks to the home care recipient's safety.
Care Management Care management is an important service that includes coordinating care and services that will help you deliver on the goals you identified in your Care Plan. Every Home Care Package, including those being self-managed, will require some level of care management.
Provider maintained text – mandatory field – maximum 1000 characters
| Approach to care management | Metric | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fully managed by provider | Per fortnight | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| Fully managed by provider | Approx. no. hours per fortnight | ||||
| Self-managed by you | Per fortnight | $ | $ | $ | $ |
| Self-managed by you | Approx. no. hours per fortnight |
You need to make sure you can justify your charges to the consumer and ensure they understand what they are being charged for.
If you are interested in chatting about your consumer on-boarding to make the process more efficient and less costly, contact Debra Baxter via the Care Collaborator web page: www.carecollaborator.com.au, email debra@carecollaborator.com.au or mobile 0438 020 728.