Earnings baby boomers could soon be required to pay more for their elder care.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has been asked to consider a change to the means test for aged care so that wealthier Australians have to pay more out of pocket. Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Currently, taxpayers are footing a bill of more than $30 billion to support older Australians with the costs of aged care.
According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, this is estimated to increase by as much as $29 billion over the next decade.
Salaried baby boomers could soon be required to pay more for their elderly care, a federal government task force has advised the government
A report by a federal government task force investigating the issue will be published before the end of January and is expected to recommend consumers increase their contributions to ease the burden on taxpayers while maintaining high quality of service.
The federal government is expected to respond to its recommendations later this year, most likely during the May budget.
The daily cost of living for people in residential care, currently set at $61 per day, could also be lifted for residents with more wealth.
Taxpayers currently cover 96 percent of the total costs of residential aged care, leaving only 4 percent in consumer contributions.
This is largely because existing means tests limit payments to $33,000 per year or $78,500 over a lifetime.
It is expected that this will all change under the advice of the government task force.
Another significant change is the way the family home contributes to the assets test, with the current system requiring the maximum value of the home to be under $198,000.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has been asked to consider changing the means test for aged care so that wealthier Australians have to pay more out of pocket
Taxpayers currently cover 96 percent of the total costs of residential aged care, while only 4 percent is paid in consumer contributions
The recommendation is not a major shock, after Ms Wells indicated during a National Press Club speech in June that the Government expected contributions to aged care would need to rise to keep pace with quality improvements.
“You have to say that if we’re not going to accept that room of concrete blocks, linoleum floors, and four beds anymore, we have to figure out how we’re going to pay for it,” she said.
“Many people have said, ‘I’m willing to pay for an innovative, excellent healthcare model, I just can’t find it.’
Ms Wells is expected to formally respond to the task force report when it is published in weeks.
Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston told The Australian last year that the coalition would “consider any sensible policy solution put forward in good faith by the Aged Care Taskforce and the government”.
“Ensuring the sustainability of Australia’s aged care sector is absolutely critical to ensuring that future generations have access to the care they need and the care they deserve as they age,” she said.
