Moreton Bay Today - Samantha Edmonds from the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN)

Imagine paying nearly $120 for a $20 pack of smoothies. Complaints about soaring home care costs are surging since recent aged care reforms. 

Samantha Edmonds Director of Policy & Systemic Advocacy from the Older Persons Advocacy Network explains what families need to watch out for on this episode of Moreton Bay Today with Travis Groves. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

9910 Bridge FM Great Rock Variety on your Monday. You're on Morton Bake today with me, Trav, and previously on the show. I talked about a new investigation revealing some older Australians being hit with massive extra fees for basic home care services. With examples like a $20 pack of smoothies blowing out to nearly $120 due to provided charges. Now, since aged care reforms came in last November, complaints have surged, with people reporting skyrocketing costs for essentials like meals, showers, and cleaning. Advocacy groups say some seniors are now being forced to choose between food and care, while others are cancelling services altogether because they simply can't afford them. Samantha Edmonds is Director of Policy and Systemic Advocacy at the Older Persons Advocacy Network. Who are they? Well, they're an organization that stands up for older Australians navigating the aged care system, which is a tall task. Samantha, thanks for your time.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Thanks, Travis. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

When people hear about something like $20 for a pack of smoothies blowing out to $120, it sounds unbelievable. What's actually going on here?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

So what we're kind of seeing is the lack of transparency and consistency in provider pricing, particularly for basic needs. And what we're also seeing is what is now known as a unit cost price. So previously the various aspects like admin fees, etc., were all covered separately, but now providers create what's called a unit price for an item. But because we don't have transparency on how those costs are put together, we can't see what's actually going into that higher price hike. We think some providers are just, you know, using it as a way to gain more income. But for others, it could be a misunderstanding of how these things are meant to apply and what they're meant to do. So it's a bit of a mixed bag. It's something we've certainly been watching. We do know from the 1st of July 26th, the government will introduce price caps for each service in the support at home service list, and that will be based on advice from the independent health and aged care pricing authority to set those price caps. So we're hoping once the caps are introduced, providers will still continue to set their own prices, but the cap will mean they can't go above that particular price. So we do argue that prices need to be reasonable, they do need to be transparent, and they do need to adhere to consumer law.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Do you think by the government setting caps that that'll encourage providers just to simply charge the maximum cap across the board?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Um that's always the risk with a price cap that that people see that as the price to charge. Um I think as in any other sector, we will see a mix. We'll see those providers that will, for want of better language, do the right thing, will make sure their prices are reasonable. Um there will be others that will go immediately to that um price cap, and that's where the department and the aged care quality and safety commission come in in terms of monitoring those prices and making sure that those prices are reasonable.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Inquiries to your organization have nearly doubled since the reforms came in. What are older Aussies telling you and how serious is the situation on the ground?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Uh so um as you know, as we touch on certainly fees and charges for support at home, co-contributions are impacting older people. There's also been issues with applications for hardship. So while the um the evidence needed to be provided for a hardship application, the form is still quite complex and quite daunting for older people. Um we're also seeing obviously, as was discussed last week at the hearing with the with government, um, we're obviously seeing problems with the assessment tool, particularly the tool requiring less needs when they're seeking an assessment when they actually need more, that lack of clinical oversight of the decision-making program or algorithm, um and also the priority setting within the assessment tool, which is resulting in people living with dementia not always getting a high priority when they need it. Um, we're also seeing ongoing lengthy wait times for assessment and reassessment. And of course, um when you've got um when you've got your assessment in and you don't agree with it and you want to uh submit for a review, you've got to wait another 90 days to get that um information back. So that's obviously uh um an issue as well. So yeah, there's a range of issues out there uh that we're monitoring and that we're continually hearing about. Um some of the new issues is as you touched on at the beginning, the meals, um, but we're still consider you know keeping our eye on it and advocating to government to um address these issues.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

You've probably seen trending on the news and social media calls for inquiries into the NDIS and fraudulent providers. Would you like to see more auditing within the aged care space?

SPEAKER_01 5:13

The government does do that. They do have program assurance reviews. Uh they're conducting one at the moment. We'd certainly like to see that report made public uh so that we can see um what the government is finding. Um, definitely in these initial um sort of 12 months of rolling out a whole new act with a whole new um support at home system, we'd like to see far more regular monitoring and checking and auditing of providers to make sure that the fees are reasonable.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Now, finally, Samantha, for listeners who might have parents or grandparents in the system, what should they be looking out for and where can they turn if they feel they're being overcharged?

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Um so they should be looking at their statements. We do know some people are not getting their statements uh in a timely manner, um, but looking out for what the costs are in those statements. Um, if people have issues, they can absolutely reach out to OPAN, Older Persons Advocacy Network. We're here to help older people understand their rights and navigate the system. So if anyone needs support, uh please call the HCare Advocacy line on 1-800-700-600, and we'll link you with an advocate for advice and assistance.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Samantha Edmonds, Director of Policy and Systemic Advocacy at the Older Persons Advocacy Network. That is a mouthful, Samantha OPAN, O P A N. Thanks for joining us on Morton Bay today.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Thank you very much, Travis.