The rationing of aged care places needs to stop according to a policy blueprint from Catholic Health Australia (CHA).
Under the plan, the existing aged care planning and allocation formula would be scrapped and care services would be offered to anyone deemed eligible.
The CHA proposal also calls for a unified funding mechanism for care in residential and community settings.
The group’s CEO, Martin Laverty, says the proposed reforms would enable more people to live in their own homes for longer.
“Consumers who need aged care should be entitled to it and they should be able to choose between staying in their own home for as long as they can or going into residential care,” he said.
“The way to do that is to have a single care package for people in residential or community care. The consumer then decides if they receive that care in a residential setting or within their own home.
“That would immediately give the consumer greater choice and as we know, baby boomers are increasingly going to want to stay in their own homes.”
The blueprint recommends a complete Commonwealth takeover of all aged care services.
Aged care assessment teams (ACATs) would be centralised and replaced by a series of aged care access centres in local communities.
Mr Laverty says the new services would provide a more user-friendly interface between aged care services and the community.
“They would be the entry point to guide and assist people in finding the right information and they would also be the place that does the assessments to ensure that those who are entitled receive care are able to,” he said.
“They would then build on their existing networks with hospitals and aged care services to link older people with the community care provider or residential care provider who best meets their needs.”
The paper also calls for widespread adoption of the independence model of community care and specific funding for technology in the home.
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