Aged Care Inspector General questions scrapping of CHSP

Aged care providers are charging older Australians up to seven times more for a meal to be delivered, as fears grow that changes in the aged care sector is turning it into the new NDIS.

In addition, co-contributions under the new reforms mean people can no longer afford their continence pads or have a shower.

The realities affecting people under the new aged care system were aired on the first day of an inquiry looking into government plans to scrap the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CSHP), potentially as soon as July 2027, and fold recipients into the new Support at Home program, which was launched on November 1.

CHSP, which is the entry level for aged care, provides basic support at home, including such supports as meals, home modifications, and help getting to the doctors.

Inspector General of Aged Care Natalie Siegel-Brown appearing before the Senate Community Affairs References Committee on Friday, questioned why the two programs should be merged when Support at Home was riddled with problems.

“People are writing to me saying they can no longer afford their continence pads,” Ms Siegel-Brown said.

“They can’t go out in public because they’ve got no way of ensuring that there won’t be any bladder or bowel leakage. I’ve got people constantly writing to me saying they can’t get showered because of the co-contribution model.”

“If no-one can explain the rationale for the transition 18 months out from D-Day, then should we be doing this transition at all?”

Claudia Odello from Meals on Wheels NSW also highlighted concerns, saying on average they charge $10 to $12 for a meal, which includes an entree and a main, delivered under CHSP. Delivery is subsidised by the government. But those on Support at Home were being charged by their providers up to $69 for the same meal and delivery.

She said her organisation was receiving complaints from Support at Home recipients, even though it’s the providers setting prices.

“Complaints are through the roof,” Ms Odello said. “[The $69 charge] is not an isolated example, it’s happening across the board.”

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Anne Ruston tried to ascertain how much more the taxpayer was paying for meals to be delivered through Support at Home programs, rather than through CHSP, a block-funded community program.

Ms Odello estimated that the cost of a meal and delivery through CHSP was probably around the $40 mark, compared to the example of $69 through Support at Home, but that she needed to have a deeper dive.

Senator Ruston said on the surface it appeared to be “completely inefficient to provide these services by any other means but block funding”.

She said government plans to abolish community-based support such as CHSP is similar to what has happened in the disability sector, adding that now the NDIS was trying to bring back community-based disability support due to ballooning costs.

“It sounds like reverse engineering that’s going on with the NDIS with Thriving Kids,” Ms Ruston said.

Chair Penny Allman-Payne, leading the inquiry, has previously raised concerns about waiting lists if CHSP recipients are moved into Support at Home.

“Older Australians are already dying while they wait a year or more for basic help under Labor’s disastrous Support at Home program,” the Greens spokesperson for older people said.

“By closing the CHSP, Labor plans to put another 835,000 [people] into the already extreme aged care waitlist.”

Greg Pugh from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, said no cost benefit analysis had been done on the proposed merge as far he knew.

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Originally published as Aged care chief warns reforms leave elderly unable to afford showers and continence pads