Home care account 065-21081745

The home care account was introduced as part of the Improved Payment Arrangements (IPA) for home care September 2021 changes. The Aged Care Management Payment System (ACMPS) will maintain a home care account for each care recipient. This will accrue any unclaimed amounts from previous periods (credits), which can be deducted from subsequent periods (debits) if the service provider claims an amount greater than the claim entitlement in that month. The maximum amount the service provider can claim is up to the limit of the credits available in the home care account.

Unspent funds are the total amount of home care subsidy and fees a service provider has received on behalf of a care recipient that have not been spent. For information about unspent funds, see Unspent home care amounts.

From 1 September 2021, all care recipients have a home care account. Each home care account has an initial balance of zero dollars ($0). This is regardless of when care recipients started to get a Home Care Package. The home care account will hold any Commonwealth (CW) unspent funds accrued from that date onwards. The unspent funds will continue to be available to pay for a care recipient’s care and services when needed.

For care recipients currently in care, service providers will continue to have a limit of 2 years after the end of a payment period to make changes to an event. This can be submitted via either the Aged Care Provider Portal (ACPP) or the paper format channel. When a care recipient departs from a home care service provider, the home care account relevant to the episode of care remains viewable to the departing service indefinitely. The home care account balance will only be available to the departing home care service provider to make changes for 70 days. After 70 days, the departing home care service provider is unable to claim for the care recipient and/or make any changes to events. They can email their request to the Aged Care Payments Team (Health Service Delivery Division). All requests beyond the 70 days and 2 years period must include relevant supporting evidence.

Requests beyond 70 days must be genuine cases of administration errors on Services Australia’s part. These cases are directed to the Aged Care Programmes Branch for review and action via email. See Maintain claims in the Aged Care Management Payment System (ACMPS) for information about time limits for aged care providers to make changes to events.

For care recipients who move to a new home care service within 70 days from the departure date, the home care balance is transferred to the new service on day 71. If the care recipient does not move to a new home care service by the end of the 70 days from the departure date, the amount of the home care balance is set to zero ($0) and the balance is returned to Services Australia.

A care recipient’s home care account can be found in the Aged Care Staff Portal, Aged Care Management Payment System (ACMPS) and the Aged Care Provider Portal (ACPP). See the Process page for the steps.

From 1 September 2021, the amount of home care subsidy payable to a service provider for providing care in a payment period is calculated as follows:

• the Commonwealth (CW) contribution amount plus the home care account balance equals the maximum contribution amount
• the invoice amount minus the CW unspent amount (if opted in) minus any care recipient’s contributions (Income Tested Care Fee (ITCF)) equals the shortfall amount
• the lesser of the maximum contribution amount and the shortfall amount equals the amount of home care subsidy payable to the service provider. This is shown as the ‘payment determination’ on the payment statement

The CW contribution amount is equal to:

• the basic subsidy amount
• plus any primary supplements
• minus any reductions in subsidy
• plus any other supplements

Prior to 1 September 2021, home care subsidies payable to a service provider were calculated as follows:

• the basic subsidy amount
• plus any primary supplements
• minus any reductions in subsidy
• a compensation payment reduction where a care recipient is in receipt of a compensation entitlement that covers home care, or
• a care subsidy reduction where a care recipient has income above a certain amount, and is required to pay an ITCF
• plus any other supplements such as a hardship supplement for care recipients in financial hardship, or a viability supplement for care recipients living in regional and remote areas

Service providers are paid for the services they have delivered up to the limit of the maximum contribution amount for the month. If the shortfall amount exceeds the maximum contribution amount, the service provider is able to draw down on (that is, use) any care recipient portion of unspent funds they may hold (if any).