If a care recipient leaves your care, they’ll need to agree on an end date with you. You need to report the departure date and return any Commonwealth unspent amount you hold for them. This includes transfers between services under the same provider.
Any Commonwealth unspent amounts returned for care recipients who entered your care before 1 September 2021, go into the care recipient’s Home Care Account.
If they’re transferring to a new service, the new service needs to accept the referral and report the new entry.
When someone leaves your care, you have 70 days to do the following:
- submit a final invoice amount and finalise a claim
- finalise any care events
- tell us the Commonwealth unspent amount you hold if they’re not opted in, including nil amounts.
You can claim any outstanding invoices from the care recipient’s Home Care Account for 70 days following the care recipient’s departure. After 70 days, the Home Care Account will no longer be available for that service.
If a care recipient is coming into your care from another service, you’ll get access to their Home Care Account after 70 days. This means you won’t be able to see their previous home care account balance during this time. However, you’ll have access to the monthly entitlement amount that accrues in the Home Care Account from the day the person enters your service.
For example, if a care recipient departs on 1 January 2023, the service has 70 days to claim any outstanding invoices. The service can claim any outstanding invoices up until 12 March 2023.
The claim can’t be finalised without submitting invoice amounts for all care recipients in that service. Finalising the claim within 70 days enables the payment system to include any invoice amounts for care recipients who have departed care.
This 70-day period also applies when someone moves to a different service under the same approved provider.
Annual and lifetime caps
The annual and lifetime caps follow a care recipient as they move between aged care providers, services and care types.
Entering care after 1 July 2014
Home care package income-tested fees accrue against a person’s annual and lifetime cap. This is from the date of their first entry into home or residential care. This applies for anyone who entered care on or after 1 July 2014.
If a care recipient moves to a home care package, any means-tested care fees paid in residential care that year counts towards the annual cap.
These fees also count towards the lifetime cap in home care.
Entering care before 1 July 2014
Income-tested care fees paid from the time the care recipient starts home care only count towards the annual and lifetime caps if the care recipient:
- moves to home care after 1 July 2014
- was in residential care before 1 July 2014.
If a care recipient moves to residential care, any income-tested care fees paid in home care that year count towards the annual cap.
These fees also count towards the lifetime cap in residential care.
Means-tested care fees paid from the time the care recipient starts residential care only count towards the annual and lifetime caps if the care recipient:
- was in home care before 1 July 2014
- moves to residential care after 1 July 2014.