Who are you going to call?
Okay, I am the first to admit to watching the Ghostbusters movie
(1984 original) as many times as the Blues Brothers.
Who hasn’t?
But this story isn’t about that. It’s far more serious.
It is one of the great joys of our profession to be a trusted ear to someone or a family that has found themselves in a situation that is causing angst stress and uncertainty. I am referring to the part of the advice business which is the difficult navigation of the aged care system for a loved one.
A recent scenario unfolded as we assisted a family to navigate the aged care system before moving their loved one into care.
The situation in brief
The daughter lives in Canberra and the parents are on the outskirts of a capital city in a retirement village. The mother has been living with a diagnosis of dementia and the father is the primary career with some limited home care help.
The father is still ‘sharp' mentally.
Where life became unstuck for this family, was when the father had a fall which needed some time in hospital. When he returned home, he felt his balance and mobility were a little shaky and he did not feel as confident driving.
Although a heartbreaking decision, the daughter and father agreed that they can not adequately look after the mother and consequently, wanted to explore options and the financial position of a move to the permanent residential home care rooms, located on the same grounds as their village.
Aged care options
The Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) price for a room in the home they were looking at is $400,000. They were familiar with the service and care because they had friends who lived in the facility.
Their Retirement Village is worth $650,000
They have cash of $ 240,000
They receive an age pension and own a car.
What we were able to illustrate was the situation if they paid*:
- no RAD,
- part RAD using some of their cash savings and the rest as Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP),
- pay part RAD, then deducting some of the fees from the RAD, and
- cost of having both parents in residential aged care.
These outcomes were able to put everybody’s mind at rest.
*If you would like to learn more about the difference between "RADs" and "DAPs", please download our aged care information booklet here.
Outcome
After reviewing their options in detail, we were able to present a workable strategy for the family.
The family could take their time to understand the implications of acting in each one.