EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued under the authority of the Minister for Ageing
Aged Care Act 1997
Determination under Subsection 52-1(1)
Aged Care (Amount of flexible care subsidy – Extended Aged Care at Home) Determination 2009 (No. 1)
Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) is a flexible care program in respect of which flexible care subsidy is payable. EACH provides nursing and personal care services to an aged care recipient in the care recipient’s home where the care recipient would otherwise be eligible for high level residential care.
Subsection 52-1(1) of the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) provides that the amount of flexible care subsidy that is payable in respect of a day is the amount determined by the Minister by legislative instrument; or worked out in accordance with a method determined by the Minister by legislative instrument.
In accordance with paragraph 52-1(1)(b) of the Act, the Determination under subsection 52-1(1) of the amount of flexible care subsidy for flexible care provided in the form of Extended Aged Care at Home (the Determination) specifies the method for working out the amount of flexible care subsidy payable under section 51-1 of the Act for a day in respect of an EACH care recipient.
The Determination applies from 1 July 2009 and, from that date, revokes the Determination under section 52-1 of the amount of flexible care subsidy for flexible care provided in the form of Extended Aged Care at Home (ACA Ch. 3 No. 19/2008).
Clause 5 sets out the amount of flexible care subsidy payable in respect of a day for a care recipient receiving flexible care in the form of Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH).
Subclause (a) of the Determination states that the base amount of flexible care subsidy payable for a day in respect of an EACH care recipient is $118.37
(b) and (c) of the Determination require an EACH care recipient to be treated as if he or she were a residential care recipient for the purposes of working out the amount of flexible care subsidy payable for a day in respect of the EACH care recipient.
(b) and (c) of the Determination provide that if the oxygen supplement payable under section 44-13 and/or the enteral feeding supplement payable under section 44-14 would have been payable in respect of the EACH care recipient if he or she was receiving residential care, an amount equivalent to each applicable supplement is added to the amount calculated under (a).
(d) provides for an additional daily amount of flexible care subsidy to be paid to an approved provider who provides EACH to a care recipient in rural and remote location, provided that location has an Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) score of 3.52 or more.
Under the ARIA, each suburb and town in Australia is allocated an ARIA score based on its accessibility and remoteness. ARIA scores for all Australian locations are contained in the document entitled Viability Funding — ARIA scores for locations as at 30 July 1999, published by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The Department will verify the location of a care recipient by reference to the postcode of the suburb or town in which the care recipient resides.
The more remote the EACH care recipient’s residential location, the higher the ARIA score for that location and the higher the amount of the additional flexible care subsidy payable to the approved provider in respect of that care recipient. This approach reflects the higher costs involved in operating EACH care services in rural and remote areas, including the higher costs associated with attracting and retaining staff.
If the ARIA score for an EACH care recipient’s residential location is less than 3.52 no additional daily amount of flexible care subsidy is payable in respect of the EACH care recipient. However, where the ARIA score for an EACH care recipient’s residential location is 3.52 or more, the table in (d) of the Determination sets out the additional daily amount that is payable in respect of that care recipient.
Approved providers who are eligible to receive an additional amount of flexible care subsidy in respect of an EACH care recipient will receive the additional amount of subsidy through Medicare Australia’s payment systems.
The amount of flexible care subsidy payable in respect of EACH is indexed on 1 July each year. As part of this process, the additional amount of flexible care subsidy payable in respect of an EACH care recipient has also been indexed.
Consultation
As the indexation of the subsidy uses well established formula based on the Consumer Price Index and the Wage Cost Index 9, and is in accordance with policy upon which extensive consultation was undertaken, no specific consultation was undertaken with respect to this instrument.
Information about the increase in the amount of the subsidy will be disseminated via print and electronic media to approved providers.