Cap Aged Homecare Provider Fees

Dear Minister
A recent article by ABC news journalist Anne Connolly has brought to light the obscene amount of fees and charges and commensurate profits benefitting the aged health care providers. Not only are our aged having to wait for unreasonable periods to receive the funds promised, even after they have been advised that they are approved, but in many cases they are forgoing the majority of their approved carer allowance because of excessive management and administrative fees charged by the providers. You said in an interview with the ABC in March of this year that legislation needs to be changed to effect a cap on provider fees. No action has been taken to date. In the meantime the aged care providers are allowed under the present legislation to use funds approved for the care of aged individuals for the purposes of generating income, which they get to add to their revenue. No wonder one company was able to boast an increase of 87.7% in aged home care revenue in its 2019 annual report. You must act now to cap fees and charges imposed by aged homecare providers and to ensure that the regulator is performing its required role of monitoring the industry against unfair practices.