An unknown number of residents were wrongly charged for the means-tested care fee after the Department of Human Services automated fee calculation system failed to recognise they had reached their annual and lifetime caps.
In one case, a 94-year-old woman was told she owed $33,000 after being charged for ten months after she had reached the cap.
The means-tested care fee, which is calculated on a person’s income and asset, is supposed to be capped at $63,759 for life and $26,566 a year.
It is up to the Government to recognise when a resident has reached the maximum amount and alert their provider to stop charging the fee.
A department spokesperson told The Guardian the error occurred only in a “small number of cases” which had all been “rectified” and the money refunded.
Let’s hope so – the sector does not need a “robo-debt” scandal.
