Home Care Packages recipients may be asked to pay the following:
- An income-tested care fee if your income is over a certain amount.
The Federal Government subsidises the cost of providing a Home Care Package however they expect individuals to contribute to the cost of your care where individuals can afford to do so.
Income-tested care fee
Depending on your income and assets, you may be asked to contribute more to the cost of your Home Care Package. This fee is called the “Income-tested Fee”.
The Income-tested Fee is calculated by the Department of Human Services following an assessment of your financial situation. If you are a member of a couple, half of the combined income is considered in determining the income-tested care fee; regardless of which partner earns the income. The assessment does not include the value of your home or any other assets.
You can only be asked to pay an income-tested care fee if you have a yearly income above the following approximate thresholds:
- individual person – $25,711.40
- member of a couple but now separated due to illness (individual income) – $25,243.40
- Member of a couple living together (combined income) – $39,925.60.
There are annual and lifetime caps that apply to the income-tested care fee. Once these caps are reached, you cannot be asked to pay any more income-tested care fees.
There are limits on the amount of income-tested care fees:
- Full pensioners pay no income-tested care fees. They can be asked to pay a basic fee.
- For part-pensioners, and people with equivalent incomes, income-tested fees are capped at $5,000 a year.
- Self-funded retirees have an income-tested fee capped at $10,000 a year.
- The annual caps are built into the calculation made by the Government.
- There is also a lifetime cap for income-tested care fees up to a total of $60,000.
Estimate of fees
The Department of Social Services’ website www.myagedcare.gov.au has a fee estimator which can assist individuals to estimate the fees and payments they may be asked to pay for a Home Care Package.
My Aged Care can be contacted on 1800 200 422.
