Gerontologists hold forum to tackle aged care funding, means testing

Amidst a lack of publicly available data to inform ongoing work on aged care reform and funding in the sector, the Australian Association of Gerontology is holding a forum to explore the evidence.

Amidst a lack of publicly available data to inform ongoing work on aged care reform and funding in the sector, the Australian Association of Gerontology is holding a forum to explore the evidence.  

The AAG is hosting the forum, titled ‘A fairer aged care system, with controlled costs’ on 23 August in Canberra to explore possible new funding systems for aged care and mechanisms to ensure equity of access for disadvantaged seniors.

The event comes amidst the ongoing review into the 2013 aged care reforms, which is assessing the extent to which the measures have tackled long-standing issues in the sector such as access to services and workforce woes.

The Department of Health has also commissioned key analyses to inform future government policy – but it is not known whether these reports will be publicly released.

The University of Wollongong is conducting an analysis on new funding models to replace the beleaguered Aged Care Funding Instrument, while Deloitte is undertaking modelling on uncapped supply in aged care (read our story on this here).

Dr Richard Cumpston, director of Australian Projections, who is organising the forum, said that many of the submissions to the aged care review are relevant “although lacking in quantitative detail.”

“One purpose of the forum would be to explore alternative solutions to the many serious problems discussed in the submissions,” Dr Cumpston told Australian Ageing Agenda.

The proposed topics for the forum include:

  • changing or replacing the ACFI system
  • fairer, simpler means testing for aged care
  • measures to protect disadvantaged persons under uncapped supply
  • effectiveness of replacing residential aged care by home care
  • projecting future demand for aged care.

Dr Cumpston is seeking a range of contributors to the forum and those interested can contact him via email (richard.cumpston@gmail.com).

Related AAA coverage: 

Tags: aag, aged care review, Australian Projections, australian-association-of-gerontology, deloitte-access-economics, Richard Cumpston, university-of-wollongong, unmet-demand,

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