Post by Banker on Mar 28, 2011 17:09:43 GMT 7
For June Gabriel, who has just put her 95-year-old sister into a nursing home, the idea of having to sell the family home to pay for aged care is unthinkable.
But that is what some elderly people may be forced to do if a proposal by the Productivity Commission goes ahead.
The commission's suggestion, which would see a person's ability to pay for aged care assessed not only on their income but also on their assets, was being discussed at a hearing in Sydney on Monday.
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Ms Gabriel, an 81-year-old Sydney resident, was one of about 40 protesters rallying outside the hearing in the inner city suburb of Surry Hills.
"They have absolutely no right to take their home away from them," she told AAP.
She said elderly people would sooner starve to death in their homes or turn to euthanasia than sell their house.
"I don't think they will sell their homes, not what they have worked hard for all their lives," she said.
"What they will do is they will stay in the home and probably ... starve to death because if they ring the doctor the doctor will probably want to put them in a (nursing) home."
When the Productivity Commission put forward the proposal in January this year it acknowledged it "would require some older people whose wealth is assets rather than income, to draw on those assets".
But the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association of NSW (CPSA), which organised the Sydney protest, said it's not worth mortgaging or selling a house for "three showers a week".
"Pensioners are outraged that the family home is again being touted as the silver bullet to aged care funding problems," the association's policy co-ordinator Charmaine Crowe said.
"Who would mortgage their home to get three showers a week?"
She added that the commission had failed to recommend tying funding to quality.
"Older people are being told to pay up but there is no guarantee they'll get better care in return."
Linda Hardman, who works in a 120-bed high care facility for elderly people on the NSW south coast, said the aged care system is in desperate need of repair.
"The whole system needs to be overhauled ... this is Australia, it is not a third world country," she told AAP.
"We are really stretched and you have to take shortcuts which is unfortunate. Staff working in aged care ... really do want to give quality care but at the moment they are under a lot of time pressure."
The Productivity Commission's report is due to go to the federal government at the end of June. It was contacted for comment but did not respond.
news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/protesters-seek-better-deal-on-aged-care-20110328-1cd51.html
But that is what some elderly people may be forced to do if a proposal by the Productivity Commission goes ahead.
The commission's suggestion, which would see a person's ability to pay for aged care assessed not only on their income but also on their assets, was being discussed at a hearing in Sydney on Monday.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Ms Gabriel, an 81-year-old Sydney resident, was one of about 40 protesters rallying outside the hearing in the inner city suburb of Surry Hills.
"They have absolutely no right to take their home away from them," she told AAP.
She said elderly people would sooner starve to death in their homes or turn to euthanasia than sell their house.
"I don't think they will sell their homes, not what they have worked hard for all their lives," she said.
"What they will do is they will stay in the home and probably ... starve to death because if they ring the doctor the doctor will probably want to put them in a (nursing) home."
When the Productivity Commission put forward the proposal in January this year it acknowledged it "would require some older people whose wealth is assets rather than income, to draw on those assets".
But the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association of NSW (CPSA), which organised the Sydney protest, said it's not worth mortgaging or selling a house for "three showers a week".
"Pensioners are outraged that the family home is again being touted as the silver bullet to aged care funding problems," the association's policy co-ordinator Charmaine Crowe said.
"Who would mortgage their home to get three showers a week?"
She added that the commission had failed to recommend tying funding to quality.
"Older people are being told to pay up but there is no guarantee they'll get better care in return."
Linda Hardman, who works in a 120-bed high care facility for elderly people on the NSW south coast, said the aged care system is in desperate need of repair.
"The whole system needs to be overhauled ... this is Australia, it is not a third world country," she told AAP.
"We are really stretched and you have to take shortcuts which is unfortunate. Staff working in aged care ... really do want to give quality care but at the moment they are under a lot of time pressure."
The Productivity Commission's report is due to go to the federal government at the end of June. It was contacted for comment but did not respond.
news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/protesters-seek-better-deal-on-aged-care-20110328-1cd51.html