Who Cares about Aged Care? The Gravy Train Does.

When we think about Aged Care, we generally think solely of the aged people who live in facilities during their later years. But residents of aged care facilities aren’t the only ones who care about the system supporting their care. In fact, there’s a complex network of people who pay for these aged care costs, benefit from the system, and plan on it for their own care later in life.

Current Aged Care Residents

Australia’s population is aging, life expectancy is lengthening, and demand for aged care is growing. Advancements in healthcare have helped Australians to live longer; it’s a great time to be alive!

As our numbers of aged Australians grows, however, the number of aged care facilities has not kept pace. Our supply of homes is not keeping up with demand. Therefore, prices are increasing, and it’s more difficult to find a spot. There also aren’t enough aged care workers to keep up with growth. To keep the current ratio of aged care workers to people over the age of 85, we’ll need to add 77,976 workers in the next decade.

To address this situation, different types of aged care services have been developed. Some people remain at home and get help with home maintenance, dressing, meal preparation, cleaning, and other daily tasks. Others move into aged care facilities.

Families and Aged Care

In many cases, families remain very involved with their relatives while they are living in aged care, and this is especially true for people who opt to stay at home instead of moving into a facility. Families often help with personal care, home maintenance, and even more advanced care such as helping with medication and feeding tubes.

In addition to medical and household support, families are involved in the financial support of their relatives in aged care. In some cases, families may opt to sell the family home to help pay for the bond at the aged care facility. In other cases, families may need to make decisions about pensions, super accounts, and other assets in regards to the ongoing financial requirements of aged care.

Taxpayers and Aged Care

Some feel that taxpayers are being taken for a ride on the aged care gravy train. For years now, the public has debated whether or not people should have to sell their homes to pay for aged care. It’s a good question: where does private responsibility end and public responsibility begin? And how should the cost of aged care be shared between individuals, families, and taxpayers?

In the coming years, our government will continue to grapple with these questions. In the meantime, it’s important that you keep up with current aged care rules and regulations and make adjustments to your retirement planning strategies as necessary.

Should you care about aged care? Absolutely. Talk with your financial adviser about your own personal plans for aged care. You may also want to talk with your parents and other family members about their own plans so you can all be ready.