A new set of rules for home care packages issued by the Australian health department has limited access to allied health services and non-medical supports such as in-home heating and cooling.
The Albanese government has rejected claims that the rules, issued in January, amount to cuts to the $4.4bn-a-year scheme accessed by 215,000 older Australians, saying they merely clarify existing exclusions due to inappropriate claims by providers.
The rules specify that home care packages can only be used for allied health services where they are “required due to [the] care recipient’s age-related functional decline or to assess the need for aids and equipment”.
That could exclude people with non-age related illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease from accessing services such as physiotherapy.
On Tuesday the Daily Telegraph first reported the changes, suggesting they could exclude claims for climate control in elderly Australians’ homes, buying a microwave to heat ready meals, use of care packages to subsidise medicine not on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS), and mobility scooters.
A spokesperson for the government said “reports that the Albanese government have changed the rules about what home care package recipients can claim are incorrect”.
“In particular, mobility scooters have not been excluded,” they said.
“If a provider has been supplying services or goods that are not within the scope of the aged care program it is the provider’s responsibility to talk to the home care recipient to adjust their home care package.”
The Department of Health and Aged Care said: “It is accurate to say non-PBS medications are excluded, but it is inaccurate to say this is a change to policy.
“The purpose of the home care packages program is to support older Australians with complex ageing related care needs to live independently in their own homes, to maintain the care recipient’s capabilities as they age.
“This may include assisting an older person to manage their medications, but does not include subsidising the cost of the medicines themselves. It is not a medicines scheme.”
The shadow aged care minister, Anne Ruston, said the government “is attempting to mislead older Australians and aged care stakeholders by downplaying the panic this new information has caused”.
“The minister must clarify whether the more than 215,000 home care package recipients will not have their home care packages negatively impacted by these changes.”
The opposition will examine the issue in Senate estimates on Thursday.
Last year the aged care minister, Anika Wells, announced home care packages would be replaced by a new program called in-home aged care in July 2024.
A discussion paper, released in October, said in-home care “could do more to provide older Australians with the supports they need to remain independent”.
“At present, [home care package] clients need to ‘save up’ package funding if they need to purchase higher cost capital items like aids and equipment or home modifications,” the paper said.
The paper proposed a loan scheme for home modifications.
Stakeholder consultation suggested older Australians wanted “choice over aged care services, including through self-management of funds” and “flexibility to adjust services over time as needs change”, it said.
A spokesperson for the government said it “knows most people want to stay in their homes for as long as possible, so it’s imperative reforms to in-home aged care bring genuine improvements for older Australians in the long- and short-term”.
“We are committed to giving care recipients better value for money and making sure they have access to appropriate services which best meet their needs and goals,” they said.
The Albanese government has capped fees on home care packages at 20% for care management and 15% for package management.
