Acting pricing commissioner appointed
Commonwealth public servant David Weiss has been appointed acting Aged Care Pricing Commissioner following the end of the former pricing commissioner’s three-year term.
The Department of Health has appointed commonwealth public servant David Weiss as acting Aged Care Pricing Commissioner until the sector’s new pricing authority is up and running.
He replaces John Dicer whose three-year term as pricing commissioner ended in May.
The office of the Aged Care Pricing Commissioner was established in 2013 to help ensure that aged care residents were not over charged for their places.
Mr Weiss has been a senior public service executive for the last 18 years. He has most recently been running the Commonwealth Department of Health’s state network and Medical Benefits Division and also worked in the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Mr Weiss also spent 25 years in the Commonwealth Department of Finance, predominantly in Budget Group. During this time, Mr Weiss was the senior budget adviser in the Papua New Guinea Department of Treasury for three years.
The appointment is an interim measure while a new pricing authority recommended by the royal commission is established.
The royal commission envisaged incorporating the oversight of accommodation prices into a body with broader functions, a spokesperson for the health department said.
“The government acknowledges the need for continued oversight of prices and further information on how this will be done will be provided in due course,” the health department spokesperson told Australian Ageing Agenda.
The commissioners recommended the functions of the pricing authority include providing expert advice to the system governor for funding arrangements for aged care services.
The government has accepted Royal Commissioner Lynelle Briggs’ recommendation to expand the hospital pricing authority to establish an Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority as opposed to Royal Commissioner Tony Pagone’s recommendation for a separate pricing authority for aged care.
In its response the Federal Government said legislation would be introduced to allow the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority to commence preliminary work on aged care pricing from July 2021.
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