ACCC takes BUPA to court
28 May 2019
THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking Bupa Aged Care Australia Pty Ltd to court. That's something the spick-spanking new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission can't do.
Legislation for publication of aged care staff ratios reintroduced
28 May 2019
RE-ELECTED South Australian Federal Member, Rebekha Sharkie will reintroduce her Staffing Ratio Disclosure Bill. The Bill will require aged care facilities to publish staff-to-resident ratios on the My Aged Care website.
Specialists still free to charge fees as they please
28 May 2019
Medical specialists can and do charge like wounded bulls. Beware those without health insurance. The Government is throwing a price-comparison website at the problem. Will this make specialist medical care more affordable?
Will I get Alzheimer’s?
28 May 2019
Now there's a question. Wouldn't it be nice if by just playing a game on your mobile you could settle that question once and for all? Sea Quest Hero promises to do just that, but how realistic is this claim?
Are mobility scooters for daredevils only?
28 May 2019
Mobility scooters look as benign as dodge'm cars, but overseas evidence suggests they are potential death traps.
Death waits for no one except IPART
28 May 2019
The NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is looking at the pricing of interment and cremation when what matters to people who buy funerals is in the overall pricing of funerals.
Pensioner cost of living up more than rest of country
28 May 2019
FROM 1 January to 31 March 2019 the cost of living for Age Pensioners went up by a third of a per cent. Compensation in the form of indexation will not occur until September 2019.
Can Australia afford the boomers?
28 May 2019
CAN Australia afford babyboomer Australians? That‘s the question the Parliamentary Budget Office, or PBO, tries to answer in a report recently published.
The adequacy of our advocacy: survey
23 April 2019
As part of CPSA’s funding agreement with the NSW Department of Family and Community Services, CPSA is surveying readers of THE VOICE online about its advocacy. Please take a few seconds to respond to three brief questions about the adequacy of our advocacy. Your support for this survey would be greatly appreciated.
Bring out the blunt instrument!
23 April 2019
THE Aged Care Royal Commission heard evidence from a number of systemic advocacy organisations. Counsel Assisting quizzed them on nursing home staffing. Apart from CPSA, their response was that mandatory staff-to-residents ratios in nursing homes would be too hard, too blunt an instrument. One organisation even managed to say nothing at all about nursing home staffing, even though it is the key issue in residential aged care.
Aged Care Charter of Rights, a beautiful fantasy
23 April 2019
THERE has been a lot to do about the new aged care Charter of Rights. This new Charter will cover people receiving care both in nursing homes and at home. Each care recipient must be given a copy of the Charter of Rights and this copy must be personally signed by the aged care provider who provides them with care. But what happens if you are waiting for aged care?
16,000 died waiting for a Home Care Package: Royal Commission
23 April 2019
THE Aged Care Royal Commission has finished its second hearing. This hearing was about aged care at home, which means Home Care Packages (HCPs) and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP). The Commission examined My Aged Care, the HCP waiting list, HCP fees and charges and the home care workforce. Senior Counsel assisting the Commission did a summing up at the end of the second hearing. This summing up gives an indication of what findings the Commission may come up with in its interim report in October this year.
Energy: One-offs don’t solve entrenched problems
23 April 2019
THE Australian Government announced a one-off Energy Assistance Payment to all pension recipients living in Australia on 2 April 2019.
Over-55s on Newstart: Career Transition Assistance
23 April 2019
THE April Budget ignored them and the Response to the Budget ignored them. During the election campaign neither the Opposition nor the Government will want to talk about them.
The painful consequences of no universal dental care
23 April 2019
EXISTING Australian public dental schemes are inadequate, uncoordinated, and inequitable. Unlike what happens when you visit your GP, Medicare does not pick up any of the bill for a trip to the dentist, leaving Australians largely out of pocket.
My Health Record and Advance Care Directives
23 April 2019
THE decision to sign up for My Health Record is a personal one, but if you have decided to sign up, you should make sure that your Advance Care Directive is included in your My Health Record.
NSW State Election 2019: now for keeping those promises
23 April 2019
The NSW Liberal/National Coalition Government was returned on 29 March 2019 for a third four-year term. During the election campaign, the NSW Government made a number of promises directly affecting the lives of older people in NSW.
Can Australia afford its babyboomers?
23 April 2019
CAN Australia afford babyboomer Australians? That‘s the question the Parliamentary Budget Office, or PBO, tries to answer in a report just published.
Federal election 2019: affordable housing
23 April 2019
THE federal election is coming up, so what are the major federal political parties promising to make housing affordable?