Aged care spending on the agenda as Labor slams old cuts   :(

August 26, 2020
WA Today
A federal funding boost could give older Australians more access to home services that keep them out of aged care facilities, amid a political fight over Coalition spending cuts four years ago.

The Morrison government is planning to increase the number of home care packages available after more than doubling the scheme in recent years, while still facing a waiting list of about 100,000 places.



The budget plans come as Labor leader Anthony Albanese sets out eight demands for federal action to stop the spread of COVID-19 in aged care facilities, starting with a fix to chronic workforce shortages.

Targeting the federal government over aged care for the third day in a row, Mr Albanese used question time on Wednesday to blame the government for cutting $1.7 billion from aged care and weakening the sector before the pandemic.   :(



The Labor attack was based on budget papers showing "savings" of $472.4 million in December 2015 and "efficiencies" of $1.2 billion in May 2016 from changes to the aged care funding instrument used to pay providers.


While the savings were clearly spelt out in the budget papers, Mr Morrison denied the Labor claim on the grounds that overall spending on aged care had continued to rise by $1 billion each year, allowing a rapid increase in home care packages among other measures.

Mr Morrison said the government had spent $3 billion since the May 2018 federal budget on home care packages and was spending $5.3 billion over the next two years on home support services.

"That's not to say there have not been failings -- of course there have," Mr Morrison told Parliament.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the federal outlays on aged care had been worth $13 billion when the Coalition came to power but were almost $22 billion this year and would rise about $1 billion each year over the next four years.

Mr Hunt said the number of home care packages had risen from 60,000 to 164,000 over the course of this budget, an increase of 150 per cent.

Home care packages allow older Australians to receive services in their own homes and delay any move into residential facilities, an increasingly important objective when the pandemic has heightened risks in aged care homes.





Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said Australia's aged care facilities are 'safe' despite the high death toll.

Federal sources have told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the government is working on further plans for home care, after adding 6100 places last month at a cost of $326 million.

Labor aged care spokesman Julie Collins called the last increase inadequate when about 30,000 people had died while being on the waiting list for the packages.

The opposition intensified pressure on Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck on Wednesday, with Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong calling him "incompetent" and saying she would not trust him with the care of her parents.   


Mr Albanese will use a speech to the National Press Club on Thursday to call for government action in eight areas to save lives in aged care during the pandemic and fix systemic problems.

"Presiding over it all is a government that is failing to protect older Australians," he says in a draft of the speech.   :(

Quote:

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said Australia's aged care facilities are 'safe' despite the high death toll.

Spot

Tell me about it - that building cash or part thereof would have gone a long way to fitting this place out for disability, thus ensuring a far longer stay 'at home' for the aged disabled one, but I don't have $150k lying around waiting for a project to happen... I have to put my old fractured spine back in harness and slug away one little bit at a time ...

As I said - subsidising such things under that scheme instead of feeding the fat would have the same overall effect - giving local tradies work, especially in regional towns, while helping out the disability funding budget.  No more than about ten grand would fit this place up nicely, bathroom renos to suit, couple of other small jobs, without causing me agony every day with fractured spine finally giving out.

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Aug 27^th, 2020 at 7:07am:

Quote: Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said Australia's aged care facilities are 'safe' despite the high death toll. Spot

Sure they are...... I can feel that every day in the news I prefer not to watch much these days - all death and destruction.....

There are no efficiencies in throwing billions at providers with no guarantees where that money will go apart from the reality that 50-60% of it will go to the head honchoes and shareholders for all their hard work... even a scheme that says the money must be used to directly employ staff has 'overhead costs' which can equal up to 90% by the time the parasites are finished with it, as happened with a job creation program in NYC years ago.

Plenty more where that came from and the parasites will ensure they 'spend' every cent so they can come back next year and ask for more...

Quote:

The Labor attack was based on budget papers showing "savings" of $472.4 million in December 2015 and "efficiencies" of $1.2 billion in May 2016 from changes to the aged care funding instrument used to pay providers. While the savings were clearly spelt out in the budget papers, Mr Morrison denied the Labor claim on the grounds that overall spending on aged care had continued to rise by $1 billion each year, allowing a rapid increase in home care packages among other measures.

Morrison lied. They died. A common story during this government's bloody rule.

How many more people must Morrison and his government kill before the people vote them out?

heres a thought ....old people are frail and vulnerable


heres a thought....all the food , care, medical treatment that old people recieve is dependant on a functioning economy.


heres a thought....when you destroy a functioning economy, you destroy the thing that is neccessary to support old people.

heres a thought....the level of care that will be available in 5 years time will be substantially less as the tax take will be substantially less due to the demolition of small business (the only sector of society that provides government with $$$)..


welfare recipeints , public servants, doctors, nurses, teachers, police, the army are all a DRAIN on the government.

big business can shift profits overseas and avoid taxation.

only small business supports treasury.

and it is stone cold dead in the water.

so no cash for canberra =  no care for the elderly.

so so so short sighted to demolish small business.
the elderly will pay a huge price

Assuming there will be any old people left standing after the Virus. In Victoria old people are being treated as disposables.

aquascoot wrote on Aug 27^th, 2020 at 12:14pm:

heres a thought ....old people are frail and vulnerable heres a thought....all the food , care, medical treatment that old people recieve is dependant on a functioning economy. heres a thought....when you destroy a functioning economy, you destroy the thing that is neccessary to support old people. heres a thought....the level of care that will be available in 5 years time will be substantially less as the tax take will be substantially less due to the demolition of small business (the only sector of society that provides government with $$$).. welfare recipeints , public servants, doctors, nurses, teachers, police, the army are all a DRAIN on the government. big business can shift profits overseas and avoid taxation. only small business supports treasury. and it is stone cold dead in the water. so no cash for canberra =  no care for the elderly. so so so short sighted to demolish small business. the elderly will pay a huge price

So very true.... and your government is in league with big business to achieve exactly that.... and for the ideologues here - Labor won't be any farken different.

You're all headed for Aged Care.
Like a burden to society and families.

The Virus has done a pretty good job of reducing the current crop. Especially down in Victoria where they are considered as disposables.