Aged care operators continue to suffer uncertainty under the new government funding guidelines that appear to offer more, but with strings

The Federal Government has announced the replacement of the daily cap on aged care accommodation charges with a three-tiered system with no upper limit.
They are abolishing the $32 a day fee for high care and allowing aged care facilities to increase the daily fee to $50 with no questions asked, as a Tier One level fee. Tier Two can be charged at between $50 and $85 a day but in return the provider has to self assess under government guidelines to justify the fee and residents who feel that the fee does not match the service will be able to complain to the newly established Aged Care Financing Authority. The Third Tier has no upper limit but the operator must get approval from the Pricing Regulator on a resident by resident basis for the amount to be charged
The Government estimate 60% residents will be able to pay the Tier One daily charge and the government will have to pay for the remaining 40%. For that 40% government will continue to pay $32 a day but will increase the payment to $52 a day if the operator refurbishes their facility or expands its capacity. The objective says the government is to drive strong investment into the sector.
One of the many challenges for operators is that the resident has a 28 day cooling off period after moving in to decide whether they are happy with these daily fees and whether they wish to pay an upfront fee or a periodical fee. Banks and financiers are concerned because of the uncertainty of income.
In April next year Government will also roll out the Aged Care Gateway and the My Aged Care website which will provide a directory of services and amenities in each facility, their staffing levels and fees, together with a history of complaints. There will also be a rating system.
There are 165,000 people in aged care in Australia.