Thread: Whats the point?

.....bring back Joh.

Firstly, sorry to hear that mate!

I think I prefer the old meaning of pay what you can. That is absolute crap mate, hope there are better options for her, or is that the norm now?

If for some reason I have more than $50 when I reach that point in my life I'll take my kids to the Casino, put it all on black, win= the kids go halves, loss= Window less room for me.

Sorry just reread the start of your post, that is the norm now.....

I remember a dodgy mate had all these books called "underground banking" they were all about not only offshore banking but many other inventive ways of different levels of dodgyness. In hindsight they may have been a good investment for him

Can't comment on the situation in QLD, but here in Sth Aust you have to do something called an ACAT assessment, to see how much care you need.

My mum just had one (83, self funded retiree, w breast cancer + leukemia) and got assigned a 'high dependency' score, which means she needs help showering, toileting, etc.

At the nursing home, because she has a 'high dependency' ACAT she gets a subsidy, presumable from the Federal Government to offset the cost of her nursing care. Daily cost (to her) is $48 for the room + food + etc, plus a top up payment of $20/day for the high level nursing care. So that's about $70 a day or around $500 per week. I didn't think that too outrageous for the level of care she requires.

ACAT is a Commonwealth Dept. of Social Services responsibility.I think you should talk to them. Something just doesn't sound right, in this case. They will sit down with you, your wife, her mother & husband, and make everything clear. We recently had my Mother assessed thru Veterans Affairs, and they were extremely helpful.

My Aged Care

gma #1 had lots of assets and as she became infirm and went into care she had to put up $250k and redirect about 90% of her pension to the good christian home she was in.

gma#2 had nothing and was put in a home at no cost to her but a similar pension supplement .....the level of care and standard of both homes , one on sunshine coast and the other in Logan city were so alike you couldnt see the difference.

Just been through all this with my mother. She went into an aged care home only a week ago. Yes, if you have the means to pay your expected to pay. If your dirt poor you will be looked after anyway. Hard to argue about the rational IMHO.

If you have assets (ie the means to pay) then like tax there are ways to minimise what you pay and protect your assets from being grabbed. The $600k room charge you mention could work in some peoples favour. For others it's an unwise choice. It all depends on individual circumstances.

There is often little correlation with the quality of the room and the accommodation charge. One facility I looked at had three levels. The top level was $550k, the middle level $450k the bottom $350k. All rooms and facilities on each level were identical. They had different room charges because it suits some peoples financial situation to pay more, it suits others to pay less. Because it's what assets you have after paying for accommodation that determine many other charges and regardless of what you pay, the accommodation charge is fully refundable (provided you pay the full asking price) after checking out. So it makes sense for some to park their assets in the accommodation charge knowing it gets totally refunded to the estate on death.

Very much agree with your comment

...in a way its similar to membership of a special club, YOU must be something they want, you wanting to join means nothing.

Originally Posted by Ferret

Just been through all this with my mother. She went into an aged care home only a week ago. Yes, if you have the means to pay your expected to pay. If your dirt poor you will be looked after anyway. Hard to argue about the rational IMHO.

If you have assets (ie the means to pay) then like tax there are ways to minimise what you pay and protect your assets from being grabbed. The $600k room charge you mention could work in some peoples favour. For others it's an unwise choice. It all depends on individual circumstances.

There is often little correlation with the quality of the room and the accommodation charge. One facility I looked at had three levels. The top level was $550k, the middle level $450k the bottom $350k. All rooms and facilities on each level were identical. They had different room charges because it suits some peoples financial situation to pay more, it suits others to pay less. Because it's what assets you have after paying for accommodation that determine many other charges and regardless of what you pay the accommodation charge is fully refundable (provided you pay the full asking price) after checking out. So it makes sense for some to park their assets in the accommodation charge knowing it gets totally refunded to the estate on death.

Very much agree with your comment

That sounds very reasonable indeed!
Cheers