Aged care fees and charges - accommodation payments 065-05020020

• If the care recipient has paid/is paying an accommodation payment, by either a lump sum or by a partial lump sum, to an aged care service, go to Step 2
• If the care recipient is paying or will pay their accommodation payment by daily or periodic payments, go to Step 12
• If the care recipient's lump sum accommodation payment has been partially or fully refunded, go to Step 13
• If the care recipient is advising their lump sum accommodation payment has reduced, go to Step 13

When a care recipient enters commonwealth-funded residential aged care:

• In Customer First:
• an RCA/NCL activity is created and has the details of entry into care
• use the RCA Institution (RIS) screen to verify entry by checking Admission Date and Care Type: Residential
• Aged Care skill-tagged Service Officers can access the Aged Care Staff Portal (ACSP) and confirm any admission into care that the aged care service has coded:
• contact the Aged Care (RCA) team Access Support line to confirm details if needed. The Resources page has links to Office locator and contact details

Has the care recipient entered care?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 3

When a care recipient has entered an accommodation agreement and is choosing to pay a lump sum accommodation payment, the amount paid is exempt. It is not able to be coded on Exempt Income and Assets (EXIA) screen, unless care recipient has a benefit status of RCA/CUR (i.e. Home Care) or EXIA is coded within an RCA/NCL activity.

Is the care recipient RCA/CUR or is this update a part of an RCA/NCL activity?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No,
• Create a Display on Access - Other DOC to confirm that a lump sum has been paid but unable to be coded until care starts.
• The care recipient will have to advise when they enter care or enter an accommodation agreement, for the lump sum to be recorded.

Procedure ends here.

To update payment of a lump sum accommodation payment, the following details must be provided:

• details of amount/s and date/s for any lump sum payments made
• updates on current income and asset information including the source of the lump sum payment

Supporting documents are not required from the care recipient to verify the accommodation payment paid if the information can be provided verbally, see Verifying income and assets. All updates will need to be recorded in a DOC.

When the former principal home has been sold, details of the sale of home will also be required so that they can be recorded in Fast Note – select Auto Text, use Assessments and Reviews > Income and assets > Sold principal home. See Sale of principal home for more information.

See Document Tools to check if any supporting documents have been provided.

Are all required details regarding accommodation payment and income and assets available now?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 5

Request documentation to make updates. Is the care recipient currently in receipt of a means test income support payment?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

As the care recipient is currently in receipt of an income support payment, the request is issued under the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999. An accommodation payment is an exempt asset for Social Security purposes. Changes to income and assets may affect the rate of income support payment a care recipient is entitled to receive.

Request supporting documentation using Request Documents function in Process Direct. Refer to Requesting information (CLK).

Procedure ends here until requested information is returned.

As the care recipient is not in receipt of an income support payment, this request will be issued under the Aged Care Act 1997.

See Aged care letters - creating manual letters and request supporting documentation required.

Create a Fast Note explaining the information that has been requested and place on hold for 28 days.

Procedure ends here until requested information is returned.

The RCA Circumstance (RCIRC) screen will display a care recipient’s current assessment scheme:

• Pre 1 July 2014 displayed as:
• PRE2008
• POST2008
• Post 1 July 2014 displayed as:
• POST2014
• POST2016

Note: if there is no current or provisional assessment scheme on RCIRC screen a message will present on EXIA screen and will not allow coding of Refundable Accommodation Deposit. In some circumstances the entry event may need to be resent, see Profiling and manual refresh of aged care means assessment data.

Accommodation lump sum payments will be updated on EXIA screen:

• access the Pension Task Selector (PTS) or RCA Task Selector (RCTS)
• 'S'elect the Exempt Acc. Bonds to go to EXIA screen

Complete the following fields:

• For pre 1 July 2014 assessment scheme care recipients:
• Date of Event: the date the accommodation lump sum was paid
• Exempt Accommodation Bond Amt $: amount of accommodation payment that has been paid in a lump sum
• for post 1 July 2014 assessment scheme care recipients:
• Date of Effect: the date the accommodation lump sum was paid
• Refundable Accom Deposit Amt $: amount of accommodation payment that has been paid in a lump sum. Note: care recipients cannot have an Exempt Accommodation Bond and a Refundable Accommodation Deposit at the same time
• key Source: DOR: and Action: fields

A refundable accommodation deposit may be paid over several instalments. When a subsequent lump sum amount is paid after the first payment, code the total amount on the EXIA screen, with a new date of effect. This includes the:

• date of any subsequent lump sum payments, and
• accumulated total of lump sum payments that have been paid in total

This is a total of previous lump sum payments and the most recent lump sum payment.

For example, if a care recipient pays $100,000 as a lump sum on 1 April 2023, and another $250,000 on 1 August 2023, EXIA will show:

• Date of Effect: 01 April 2023, Refundable Accom Deposit Amt $: 100,000
• Date of Effect: 01 August 2023, Refundable Accom Deposit Amt $: 350,000

Go to Step 9.

When a care recipient pays a lump sum accommodation payment, other assets may require updating. Updates may reflect the source and/or dispersal of funds following the sale of a home.

Any updates made to assets need to be recorded from the same date of event as the payment of an accommodation payment. This happens even when the dates shown on statements and receipts are different.

Complete updates as required:

• access the Pension Task Selector (PTS) or RCA Task Selector (RCTS)
• ‘S’elect the screens that require updating. See Assessment of assets for Centrelink payments for more information
• ensure that aligned dates of event are coded to ensure consistent assessment of income and asset details

Was the accommodation payment paid after the sale of the principal home?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 11

Care recipient is no longer considered to be a homeowner and further updates are required. Ensure all income and asset balances are updated to reflect the source and/or dispersal of funds, including funds remaining after payment of RAD.

Update Home ownership on Accommodation (AC) screen:

• Event Date: settlement date for the sale of the home
• Home Ownership: update to GFN – government funded non homeowner
• Reason Home Vacated: delete existing entry
• Date Home Vacated: delete existing entry

Complete updates on the RCAA screen:

• Updates for this screen need to be completed in System: RCA
• Date of Effect: settlement date for the sale of the home
• Date of Entry into care:
• this field should be blank
• for updates after entry into care, delete any previous date from this field. Coding a duplicate date of entry will delete previous data
• Home Ownership Status: NHO – customer/partner do not own a home
• Delete all other fields that were previously coded
• Action: ‘I’ to insert a new page for the update, original date of entry coding will be retained

Note: complete as separate activities if the care recipient is partnered and the RCAA updates are required on both files. The system currently allows for RCAA to be updated on one file in one activity.

Go to Step 11.

Create a Fast Note and include details of updates made and the source of the updates. Include:

• date and amount of lump sum accommodation payment/s paid
• source of funds and how these have been updated
• details of sale of home if applicable including:
• settlement date
• price received for sale of home
• details of dispersal of any other funds

Continue to RCAA Assessment Determination (RCAD) screen:

• confirm the assets updated and dates of effect are correct
• RCAD should reflect the assets outcome of the care recipient
• If assets details are not displaying from the correct date/s, go to the Benefit Actions (BA) screen and complete a Reassessment (RCA REA) from date of effect in the same activity
• Confirm updates are correct on RCAD
• finalise activity via AR screen

Procedure ends here.

Record the details:

• if the care recipient is a homeowner record details on a DOC. See Vacation of principal home due to illness
• if the care recipient is a non-homeowner record details on a DOC that accommodation payment daily/periodic payments are being paid
• confirm income and assets currently recorded and update if required

Procedure ends here.

Under the Aged Care Act 1997, an accommodation payment must be refunded when a care recipient is discharged from care. If they enter care with a new service, a new accommodation payment is negotiated. Care recipients are also able to deduct daily/periodic payments from an existing lump sum. They may then provide a new balance of an accommodation payment. See Verifying income and assets for more information.

• Access Pension Task Selector (PTS) or RCA Task Selector (RCTS)
• 'S'elect the Exempt Acc. Bonds to go to EXIA screen and any other screens that require updating

Complete the following fields on the EXIA screen:

• For pre 1 July 2014 assessment scheme care recipients:
• Date of Event: the date the lump sum was refunded or date of statement showing reduced amount
• Exempt Accommodation Bond Amt $: new balance of accommodation bond
• For post 1 July 2014 assessment scheme care recipients:
• Date of Effect: the date the lump sum was refunded or date of statement showing reduced amount
• Refundable Accom Deposit Amt $: new balance of accommodation payment. If coding a full refund, this field must be updated to $1 as ‘E019ZZ – Entry is outside valid range’ will be displayed if $0 is coded
• Key Source: DOR: and Action: fields

Note: care recipients cannot have an Exempt Accommodation Bond and a Refundable Accommodation Deposit at the same time.

• Update the care recipient's other assets if required. See Assessment of assets for Centrelink payments
• Record all details on a DOC
• Finalise activity via the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Check for a change of address and home ownership. Refund of an accommodation payment suggests the care recipient has changed address. If so, address details should be updated, see:

• Updating address details, or
• Vacation of principal home due to illness if care recipient is moving to another aged care home