ACIC seeks CAP continuation

The nation’s two peak aged care industry bodies have called for a continuation of the Conditional Adjustment Payment (CAP) in a joint submission to the Federal Government.

The Commonwealth announced a review of the 1.75 per cent ‘top-up’ funding arrangement for residential care in this year’s budget.

Under the umbrella of the Aged Care Industry Council, Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) and Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA) have also urged the government to extend similar provisions to community care services and to develop longer term solutions to ensure the sector’s viability.

“Compromised viability is not just a problem for the organisations providing aged care services,” the submission said.

“If it is not addressed it is only a matter of time before it compromises access to care.”

ACIC argued that over the past decade, the industry had introduced a number of efficiencies required by government, including the introduction of a uniform entry form for residential care and a steady increase in the uptake of information technology.

At the same time, the council said that additional changes to government policy had cost the industry about $200 million on an annual basis.

These imposts included such measures as police checks for aged care staff and the compulsory reporting of serious incidents in residential care.

The council estimated that general costs stemming from interest rate rises and an increased reliance on specialised nursing procedures had cost the industry close to $300 million.

In the long term, the group called for a change to the base indexation rate to match increase to the age pension.