Narrator: This video shows you how to use the new Aged care home fee estimator.
The Aged care home fee estimator helps you understand the different types of fees in aged care homes and work out how much you might have to pay.
To get an estimate, you will need to answer some questions about your personal and financial situation. We don't ask you for any personally identifiable information – just general details about income and assets.
Let's look at an example.
This is Michael.
Michael is a 75-year-old full pensioner. He has been assessed as eligible for an aged care home.
He rents, doesn't own a home, receives an annual pension income of $30,000, has $25 in other income, and $10,000 in other assets.
He wants to know how much he might have to pay if he moves to an aged care home.
He goes to the Aged care home costs and fees page to learn about different costs and fees relevant for living in an aged care home. Michael then decides to use the fee estimator.
He sees that he will need to provide some information about his finances, such as:
- his total annual income, and
- the total value of his financial and non-financial assets.
To prepare, he downloads or prints the Income and assets checklist from the website to help make sure he has all the information he needs.
He finds the checklist at myagedcare.gov.au/publications/income-and-assets-checklist-aged-care-homes.
Now that he has the information he needs, he can start answering the questions in the fee estimator.
Michael hasn’t been in an aged care home before, and he hasn't received aged care services or been assessed for aged care before.
Michael is single and doesn't own a home.
He uses the amounts he put down in his Income and assets checklist to answer the questions about his finances. This helps him get a better idea of what he might have to pay.
Based on Michael's answers, he is shown a summary. This displays the information Michael entered, including the income and asset amounts that will be used to determine his aged care costs. He can update any of the amounts if he needs to or start again by selecting the 'Reset' button.
Once he enters all the required information, the fee estimator gives Michael an estimate of his total fees, as well as a breakdown of the different costs.
Now that Michael has an estimate of how much he might pay, he can use the Find a provider tool to compare room costs and find a room within his budget.
The information Michael entered in the fee estimator is used in Find a provider as well. So, when he goes to the 'Rooms and costs' section of the provider's profile, he will see his estimated costs per day. Based on his finances, he only has to pay a basic daily fee.
Michael can now use this information to plan his finances and choose the right provider for his needs and budget.
