How to change home care providers
Peter Scutt is the CEO and Founder of Better Caring, an online platform where people with a disability, or those who are ageing, can find and hire local care and support workers.
So, you are not happy with your home care provider and want to switch – what do you do? Firstly, we recommend you do a little research to ensure you are informed.
Make sure you know:
- Your package level (1 – 4) and how much individual funding you have per year/day to spend.
- What your provider is charging for administration and case management. (And therefore how much money you have left over for services. Some charge up to 50 per cent – leaving only half of your package to spend on care.)
- What your provider is charging per hour for services. (Some charge upwards of $48 an hour – while workers on the Better Caring platform charge an average of $35).
- Any fees and charges. Your provider will most likely charge an exit fee to move your package, so make sure you are aware of what this will be to avoid any rude shocks. (The Government may cap this fee at around $320, this is yet to be confirmed)
- Where you would like to move your package to. Better Caring works with a number of progressive providers that will charge minimal fees to host your package, offer ‘tiered’ client advice (if you feel this is needed for you) and allow you to use Better Caring to find and directly hire service yourself. Make sure you have taken the time to ensure you can get the best deal for your funding before you start the process of moving.
The next steps
- You have a responsibility to tell your provider of the day you intend to cease receiving home care services, before you change providers. You will need to agree this date with your current provider – and give them at least two weeks notice of this date.
- Ensure you can start with your new provider on or just after the agreed cessation date to avoid any gaps in care.
- Once you know this, contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422, or through the client portal in myagdcare.com.au – once you have done this, you will then receive a referral code, which you should take note of.
- At the same time, inform My Aged Care of who you want to switch to. My Aged Care will inform the new provider.
- Your new provider will accept your client referral through My Aged Care and will be in touch with you to develop a Home Care Agreement which meets your needs.
Unspent funds
When you move your package, any unspent home care package funds will move with you to your new provider. Importantly, your existing provider has 70 day in which to do this – so it is important to note that you may not have access to these unspent funds immediately.
Have you switched home care providers before? What was your experience like?
Related links:
Age care lessons Australian should learn from other countries
Major changes to aged care start today
How the government changes to home care will affect you