Submission: IHACPA Consultation Paper on the Pricing Framework for Australian Support at Home Aged Care Services 2027–28
In this submission to the Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA), AHPA explains that the fundamental problem for costing and pricing allied health aged care services is that IHACPA’s methodology is based only on what allied health services are currently provided. This is a gross underestimate of the allied health care older people actually need, and risks narrowing the range of allied health services available to consumers – with for example, small or sole trader providers being driven out of the home care market.
The Pricing Framework for Support at Home must reflect the full diversity of the allied health sector. How services are provided, the size of the allied health provider, and the context and characteristics of the particular consumer all affect costs, and therefore pricing.
Key changes recommended by AHPA include:
Adding a commitment to reablement and multidisciplinary team care into the Support at Home pricing principles, with the costs of that care being factored into costing and pricing
Making sure that future cost collections and public consultations are based on separate unit prices for direct and indirect allied health
Ensuring IHACPA works with AHPA and our members so that future cost collections can be undertaken directly with allied health providers.