What are the Home Care Package supplements?
Home Care Package supplements are additional support for home care recipients with specific care conditions. They can provide those eligible with additional funding on top of their regular Home Care Package.
The supplements available support a variety of care needs and there is different eligibility criteria for each supplement. The Home Care Package supplements include:
- Dementia and Cognition Supplement.
- Enteral Feeding Supplement.
- Oxygen Supplement.
- Veterans’ Supplement.
- Top-up Supplement.
- Hardship Supplement.
- Viability Supplement.
What do each of the Home Care Package supplements cover?
Each of the Home Care Package Supplements, designed to address specific care needs or acknowledge additional support certain home care recipients require.
So, what are the Home Care Package supplements?
What is the Dementia and Cognition Supplement?
The Dementia and Cognition supplement aims to help with the cost of caring for people with moderate to severe cognitive impairment from dementia or other conditions. The eligibility for this Home Care Package supplement is based on an assessment by specific assessment tools and can’t be just based on a diagnosis of dementia alone.
A diagnosis of dementia alone is not sufficient. It is dependant on the level of diagnosis and those with low levels of cognitive impairment are not eligible for the supplement.
What is the Enteral Feeding Supplement?
This Home Care Package supplement supports care recipients with a prescribed need for enteral feeding. Enteral Feeding is when a person gets nutrients through a tube in their nose, stomach or small intestine.
You can apply for the Enteral Feeding Supplement online with Services Australia.
What is the Oxygen Supplement?
This supplement aims to support care recipients who have an assessed medical need for continual oxygen therapy. It is however, not payable for an emergency or for short-term illnesses, such as bronchitis.
You apply for this supplement online with Services Australia.
What is the Veterans’ Supplement?
The Veterans’ Supplement helps with the cost of caring for those veterans with a mental health condition that is directly related to their service.
To be eligible you must both be a Veteran and have a mental health condition that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) accepts as being related to your service.
The DVA and Services Australia will match information to check eligibility.
What is the Top-up Supplement?
The Top-up Supplement tops up the dementia and cognition supplement. It is for people who had an EACH-D package before transferring to a home care level 4 package plus dementia and cognition supplement.
What is the Hardship Supplement?
The Hardship Supplement is for home care recipients who are in financial hardship. This will then be paid directly to the Provider of your choice on your behalf. If you are approved for the Hardship Supplement, the Australian Government will support you with paying some or all of your aged care fees and charges, these could include the daily care fee or income tested fee.
What is the Viability Supplement?
This Home Care Package supplement is designed to support clients in rural or remote locations. If a Home Care recipient is eligible for this supplement it will be paid directly to the Provider to acknowledge the additional cost of delivering care and support services to more remote locations.
Eligibility is based on the location where your care recipient receives services.
Modified Monash Model (MMM) suburb and locality classification is used to clarify whether the recipient is eligible for this supplement. The more remote the location, the higher the rating. Ratings of MMM 4 or higher are eligible.
How does Home Care Package supplements eligibility work?
For many of the supplements, your Home Care Package Provider will complete the assessment with you, and you will also work with a medical professional to complete documentation. So, we would recommend speaking to your Home Care Package Provider about supplements that you could be eligible for.
The criteria for eligibility is different for each subsidy. For more information about how to find out your eligibility, check out the link below: https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/home-care-packages-program/funding-for-home-care-packages/supplements-for-home-care-packages
What do I receive with the Home Care Package supplements?
What you receive is dependent on the Home Care Package subsidy. You could receive additional funding on top of your basic level of Home Care Package funding, or it could be access to additional services or equipment.
The following link shows you the subsidy schedules. These are updated every year:
https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/schedule-of-subsidies-and-supplements-for-aged-care
Keep in mind some supplements don’t carry across when you move Providers, and you will need to apply for them again. So be sure to discuss this with your Home Care Package Provider.
There is always more to learn about Home Care Package Supplements. If you want to find out additional information about supplements or just about Home Care Packages in general, we are always happy to help.
Feel free to give one of our friendly Care Experts a call, or download our Info Kit here: https://bromilow.com.au/info-kit/
