Hi - I am now looking at a permanent placement for my 95 year old Mum. She is a DVA pensioner and up until now DVA have been marvellous enabling her to stay in her own home, however the time has come for her to need 24/7 care.
I understand that the Government allows 63 days of respite care per year.
I was told by a friend that these respite care days can also initially be used on permanently entering an aged care facility before any fees are required to be paid. Is this correct?
I often say that a person is eligible to access 63 days per financial year. What many don’t understand though is that the facility themselves have an allocation of days to offer people as well. So when a person comes from respite, they drawdown from their 63 days allocation, and also drawdown from the facility allocation. Unintended consequences can arise if this is the normal practice for those seeking permanent residential care. The facility runs out of their allocation, meaning they are then unable to offer those who genuinely need emergency or planned respite, and in the event the person on respite goes to hospital, they have no leave provisions like permanent residents do, meaning they are automatically discharged from the facility. It is then up to the facility if they hold the bed awaiting return (losing funding in the meantime), or offer the bed to someone else as they can’t wait. Just something to consi
Hi Jayne,Respite care and permanent residential care are considered two different categories of aged care accommodation. You are right a person is entitled to 63 days of respite in a residential aged care home during which time they will pay only the basic daily fee which is currently $51.63/day (which is 85% of the single rate of the basic age pension) and indexed every March and September. Under some circumstances this can be extended by 21 days. Your mother will have to have an ACAT before entering respite care. My understanding is that if a person then wishes to transition from respite care into permanent residential aged care ie their care needs change, then they would require another ACAT assessment to become a permanent resident. It would also depend on whether a permanent room is available at that time at the aged care home. Once the 63 days are completed then your mother will be expected to agree to an ongoing payment plan with the home. This will be determined by the outcome of her Income and Assets assessment by the Department Human Services (DHS). Obviously everyone’s financial situation is different. You can read about aged care fees at the link below.
https://www.agedcare101.com.au/aged-care/working-out-your-finances
Regards,
Jill