Costs

How much will you pay?

There are 4 main costs to consider:

·       A basic daily fee,

·       A care fee,

·       An accommodation fee,

·       An extra service fee.

Basic Daily Fee

This fee pays for everyday living costs. For example: such as meals, cleaning and laundry. This fee is currently charged at 85% of the single person Age Pension rate. This also applies if you are in couple.

Every year, this rate increases (March 20 and September 20) in line with the Age Pension. Upon entering aged care, The Department of Human Services will determine what your fee will be.

Care Fees

Care fees are ‘means tested’. It is paid if the Department of Human Services determines based off your income and assets. For couples, this number is determined upon half of your combined assets.

The means-tested fee is capped annually and has a lifetime cap. This means, once reached, you cannot be asked to pay any more. The current cap is set at $25,939.9.

Accommodation fees

There are two ways to pay for residential aged care accommodation fees, as a lump sum, or as an ongoing payment. The accommodation costs are based off an income and assets assessment.

For those who have less than $46,500, the Government will subsidise your fee in full. For those with more than this, some or all of the cost will be paid by the individual.  For couples, this fee is determined based upon half of your combines assets. The two payment fees are as follows:

1. Lump sum payment

A lump sum payment is made upon entering a residential aged care facility. A lump sum is paid to the facility which is partially refundable. This let’s the provider hold onto the money in order to receive interest on the payment. This fee is known as a Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD).

2. Ongoing accommodation fee

This is a daily payment of interest on the room price. The DHS sets the Maximum Permissible Interest Rate (MPIR) you pay. This Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP) is calculated daily and is non-refundable.

These fees are agreed upon before entering aged care, but new residents have 28 days to change their means of payment.

Additional service fees:

Additional service fees are required to be published by providers. These services fees are agreed upon by you and the aged care facility. These services are provided based upon desire or need and will depend upon what the facility can offer. While these additional service fees are not regulated, there are services and resources available to help with aged care costs.

To get an accurate understanding of the aged care costs take into account these 4 different fee types.

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