A mixed funding model is proposed to balance consumer choice and provider certainty.

Consumers receive a quarterly budget​

  • Consumers would receive a budget based on their assessment outcome.​

  • The budget is reset quarterly, with no savings between quarters ​

  • eg a person may have a budget of $2,000 per quarter and if they only spend $1,500 on services in the first quarter, their budget in the second quarter remains at $2,000.​

  • Clients will agree an affordable set of ongoing services at assessment but may change services within their budget at any time.​

  • Clients have full choice over services within the following bounds:​

  • Services must be on an ongoing services list ​

  • There will be caps on the level of cleaning and gardening that can be accessed per quarter. ​

  • Complex clients with a budget for a care partner can not trade off this service for other services.

 

Provider Funding Element​

How it would work​

Activity based funding​

  • Providers bill for services on a service list and can only price up to the list price set by government on advice of IHACPA.​

  • Prices include a mark-up for administrative and travel costs​

  • Services are billed against client budgets (or a flexible funding pool – see below)​

  • Invoices may be submitted monthly or more frequently to Services Australia ​

Supplementary grants by service type​

(transport, cottage & centre-based respite, meals, social support group)​

  • Existing CHSP providers delivering these service types would receive a funding guarantee set at 80% of their current grant value​

  • If monthly activity based payments fall short of the funding guarantee, they will receive an automatic top-up payment to the guarantee.​

  • These providers will be able to plan with funding certainty while receiving full activity based payments for any service expansion for new clients.​

Supplementary grants for high cost or low volume​

  • Providers, such as those operating in rural and remote locations or with diversity groups, for whom activity based payments would be insufficient may bid for long term supplementary grant funding.​

  • Grants would be part of their ongoing funding model on 3-5 year agreements. ​

Funding pool ​

for additional temporary client services​

  • Providers will be able to deliver extra services to clients (above their budget) when they have temporary needs – eg after a fall or when a carer is away​

  • This will be paid as activity based payments billed against a flexible funding pool​

  • Each provider will have access to a flexible funding pool set at 25% of their total client budgets – eg a provider with client budgets of $100,000 could bill up to an extra $25,000 to provide extra supports​

  • Providers would determine how to allocate this fund across clients within guidelines​

  • This approach may also be used for episodic care management services.​

Consulting on alternative model in thin markets and First Nations Model​

  • The Department is consulting with First Nations providers and Elders on options for a different grant-funded delivery model based on the NATSIFACP approach in remote Australia.​

  • This would provide more flexibility to providers to adjust services over time to meet client needs, while offering more funding certainty to attract more Indigenous controlled organisations into aged care.​

For further reading and information In-Home Aged Care Resources

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