Federal Budget 2024 – What it means for older Australians

Federal Budget 2024 – What it means for older Australians 💸🧐

The Budget is loaded with $3.3 billion in new cost of living relief through energy and rental subsidies for consumers. The government has also earmarked $22.7 billion in investment and incentives for business as part of its flagship Future Made in Australia program, set to be legislated later this year.

Other Budget winners are an estimated 13.6 million taxpayers, who will receive the previously announced restructured stage three tax cut package, the aged care and health sectors and people needing medicines, while the Budget also earmarks extra funds for housing.

The latest survey shows only 24 per cent felt their “household will be financially better off”, while almost half, or 46 per cent, said it would make no difference and 23 per cent felt their household would be worse off.

COTA Australia – the leading advocacy organisation for older people, stated that the Federal Budget will help ease some cost of living pressures on older Australians but more answers needed on aged care and support for older women. COTA Australia Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Sparrow said that two measures in particular would assist older Australians – the energy rebate and the freeze on what pensioners and concession card holders will pay for PBS medications.

What’s included in the Federal Budget that relates to older Australians?

Cost of Living Relief

• A $300 energy rebate for every household to help people meeting the rising cost of electricity and gas bills. In addition, Government provided $1.8 million to support a range of energy retail market reforms, including enabling consumers to switch to a better deal with just ‘one click,’ preventing contracts rolling over to higher-cost deals, ensuring people receive the concessions and rebates they are entitled to, and reducing excess fees and charges.
• A five-year freeze on what pensioners and concession cardholders will pay for PBS medications will also provide significant relief.
• A 10 per cent increase in the Commonwealth Rent Assistance payment will help many older renters, and last year’s 15% increases.
• Social Security financial assets deeming rate will continue at their 2022 levels for one more year, benefiting 876,000 income support recipients, including 450,000 Age Pensioners. The lower deeming rate will remain at 0.25 per cent and the upper rate will remain at 2.25 per cent until 30 June 2025.

Medicare

The Government has promised more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, more free mental health services, higher Medicare rebates for many common medical tests, and over $160 million for a women’s health package:

• $227.0 million to grow the number of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics to 87. A boost in funding
  will allow for more patients to get urgent care from a doctor or nurse, and take pressure off busy hospital emergency departments.

• $882.2 million to take pressure off hospitals, by ensuring that older Australians get the medical support they need in a safe and comfortable environment when they don’t need to stay in hospital, while freeing up beds for other patients who do. Funding will support states and territories to provide hospital outreach in the community, deliver virtual care to prevent avoidable hospitalisations and upskill the residential aged care workforce.
• $361.0 million over four years to expand the range of free mental health services, so that Australians get the right level of care for their level of need.
• $69.8 million to increase the number of Medicare eligible MRI machines. Every single practice
  with MRI equipment will be able to provide Medicare funded services, almost tripling the number of fully Medicare eligible MRIs since we came to government, from 227 machines to 620 machines.

• $266.9 million so Medicare rebates rise each year for nuclear medicine imaging and many common medical tests, which means more funding for the tests that matter, to reduce waiting times, catch health problems sooner, and prevent patients from having to settle for less appropriate tests.
• $91.1 million to boost the supply of healthcare in areas of shortage. Primary Health Networks will support health services at risk of closing, the iconic Royal Flying Doctor Service will deliver its health and dental services across outback Australia.

Medicine

The Government has promised cheaper medicines to ease pressure on household budgets, freezing the maximum cost of a PBS medicine, making Australia a destination for clinical trials so Australians get early access to life-changing medicines, and adding more medicines to the PBS.

• $469.1 million to reduce patient costs and improve access to medicines, with more funding
  for Dose Administration Aids and a one-year freeze on the maximum co-payment of a PBS prescription for everyone with a Medicare card and a five-year freeze for pensioners and other concession cardholders. So medicines stay cheaper, instead of rising with inflation.

• $3.4 billion to list new medicines on the PBS, including for four thousand eight hundred
  Australians with cardiac disease that will benefit from the listing of Tafamidis (Vyndamax®) and mavacamten (Camzyos®). Without subsidy, patients could expect to pay $122,000 or $30,000 a year, respectively, but instead will pay only $31.60, or just $7.70 for pensioners and concession cardholders.

• $18.8 million to make Australia a destination for clinical trials, so Australians get early access to life-changing medicines. A national one stop shop for clinical trials will streamline the health and medical research, make it easier for patients to participate in clinical trials for emerging treatments.
• $1.4 billion over 13 years in ground-breaking new health and medical research through the Medical Research Future Fund, including an additional $411.6 million for low survival cancers and reducing health inequities.

Housing

Government committed funding to build more affordable housing, increase rental assistance and support social housing and homelessness services. Funding includes:

• $423.1 million over five years from 2024–25 in additional funding to support the provision of social housing and homelessness services by states and territories under a new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness. This is subject to state and territory government agreement.
• $1.9 billion over five years from 2023–24 (and $0.5 billion per year ongoing from 2028–29) to increase all Commonwealth Rent Assistance maximum rates by 10 per cent from 20 September 2024 to help address rental affordability challenges for recipients.
• supporting more community housing providers to access finance through the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator by increasing the cap on the Government’s guarantee of Housing Australia’s liabilities by $2.5 billion to $10.0 billion, with an associated increase in the line of credit that supports the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator of $3.0 billion to $4.0 billion.
• target the $1.0 billion for social housing under the National Housing Infrastructure Facility in the 2023–24 MYEFO towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence, and youth, including redistributing the mix of concessional loans and grants to increase the proportion of grants to $700.0 million.
• provide $1.9 billion in concessional finance to support community housing providers to deliver social and affordable housing under the Housing Australia Future Fund and the National Housing Accord.

Healthy Australia for older Australians

• $25.3 million to prevent skin cancer, now and in the future. As part of this measure a new skin care screening roadmap ($10.3million) will identify enhanced outcomes for people with skin cancer and improve the collection of skin cancer data.
• Listing of breast cancer medicine abemaciclib to treat early breast cancer – without subsidy the treatment would cost $97,000 per course. For those with a concession card, it will now be $7.70, and will benefit around 2,400 women each year.
• $1.2 million dollars over 2 years from 2024-25 to train health practitioners to better treat, care and manage women’s health during menopause, so that they can provide up to date advice and treatment to women during menopause
• $1.4 bn over 13 years in groundbreaking new health and medical research.
• $49.1m for higher Medicare rebates to see a gynaecologist for complex conditions.
• $631.1 million over four years (and $112.1 million per year ongoing) to support access to vaccines, including for COVID-19 and shingles and postherpetic neuralgia.
• $121.3 billion over four years to support the Royal Flying Doctor Service and expand Healthdirect Australia to expand services (particularly to remote communities).
• $3.4 billion over five years to list new medicines on the PBS – includes treatments for COVID-19, leukaemia, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, chronic kidney disease and ovarian cancer.
• $16 million over four years to implement system changes to MyMedicare.

Superannuation contributions

The increase of the concessional contributions cap for superannuation to $30K is a welcome measure. Whilst all employees will benefit, it may offer some relief to women still in the paid workforces. From 1 July employees can make extra contributions to their retirement fund.

This measure will have generational impacts and will benefit women who have time to accumulate the benefits of compounding interest within superannuation. It will be of limited value to women who are close to retirement, have retired or have been forced into early retirement, and have insufficient superannuation or assets.

JobSeeker

A Higher Rate of JobSeeker Payment for People with a Partial Capacity to Work – Budget investment = $41.2 million over five years from 2023–24, and $7 million per year ongoing from 2028–29.

Extending eligibility for the existing higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single recipients with a partial capacity to work of zero to 14 hours per week from 20 September 2024.

The higher JobSeeker payment rate is currently provided to single recipients with dependent children and those aged 55 and over who have been on payment for nine continuous months or more.

Aged Care

Since the October 2022-23 Budget, total investment in aged care has increased by 30 per cent. This includes an $11.3 billion investment to deliver the largest one-off increase to aged care wages in history, with more increases in future. Older Australians in residential aged care now receive an additional 3.6 million minutes of care every single day. Here is what has been promised.

As part of the Strengthening Medicare package, older Australians will get the health care and support they need in a safe and comfortable environment when it isn’t necessary for them to stay in hospital. Using hospital outreach services in the community and more virtual care services, older patients will avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and be safely discharged sooner when they are admitted.

Older people with complex care needs will be supported to move out of hospital into a residential aged care home and more short-term care will be available for older people to help them recover after a hospital stay.

$882.2 million to ensure that older Australians get the medical support they need.
As part of the $1.2 billion Strengthening Medicare package in the 2024-25 Budget, states and territories will be funded to upskill the residential aged care workforce, deliver hospital outreach services in the community, provide virtual care services, and deliver complex care for older people outside of the hospital. $190 million will help older Australians recover from a hospital stay with short-term care through the extended Transition Care Programme.

From 1 August 2024, people in residential aged care will be more likely to receive quality and continuous care from a general practitioner, with GPs and practices eligible to receive quarterly incentive payments, on top of Medicare rebates, to manage the health of their MyMedicare registered residents.

Older Australians are some of the highest users of PBS medicines and so have seen some of the largest benefits from the Albanese Government’s commitment to cheaper medicines. In 2022-23, over 60 per cent of total PBS expenditure was towards older Australians, while through 2023, close to 240,000 older Australians in residential aged care received more than 10.7 million PBS subsidised prescriptions.

• $0.9 million so aged care residents have more options to receive a free vaccination.
  Community pharmacists are now paid the same fee a doctor gets to administer free vaccines to residents in aged care under the National Immunisation Program.

• $318 million over five years to strengthen pharmacy and keep medicines cheaper, with up to
  a five-year freeze to the cost of PBS prescriptions for pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Cardholders, so medicines stay cheaper, instead of rising each year with inflation, benefitting people in residential aged care homes, in particular.

Regulation

• $110.9 million over four years from 2024–25 to increase the regulatory capability of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission as part of the Government’s response to the Final Report of the Capability Review of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, and to implement a new aged care regulatory framework from 1 July 2025.
• The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is critical to the success of the new Act and funding to enhance its capacity is supported.

Aged care workforce

• $65.6 million over four years from 2024–25 to attract and retain aged care workers, collect more reliable data, and improve the outcomes for people receiving aged care services through existing aged care workforce programs.
• $21.6 million over three years from 2024–25 to extend the Home Care Workforce Support Program for an additional three years to facilitate the growth of the care and support workforce in thin markets.

Dementia

• $30.4 million over three years from 2024–25 to states and territories to continue to deliver the Specialist Dementia Care Program.
• $1.7 million in 2024–25 for the Australian Dementia Network to continue preparing the health system for developments in biomarkers and disease-modifying therapies.

My Aged Care contact centre

• $37.0 million over two years from 2024–25 to reduce wait times for the My Aged Care Contact Centre due to increased demand and service complexity.
• More details are required on how the My Aged Care Contact Centre will reduce its waiting times and the program of governance activities to implement the new Aged Care Act including the extension of the Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR).

Implement the Aged Care Act

• $11.8 million over three years from 2023–24 to implement the new Aged Care Act, including governance activities, program management and extension of the Aged Care Approvals Round.

Palliative aged care

• $10.8 million over two years from 2024–25 to extend the Palliative Aged Care Outcomes Program and the Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach program to continue to upskill the aged care and primary care workforce to further embed palliative care capacity in the aged care workforce.

Funding for aged care providers in thin markets

• $7.8 million over two years from 2024–25 to extend funding to aged care service providers in thin markets as they transition their business operations to accommodate the new Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding model.

Service Funding for Veterans

• Additional funding of $59.6 million over three years is provided for Veterans’ access to health and support programs including access to home care, community nursing, medical treatment, chaplaincy, and mental health programs.
• Funding of $194.4 million over 4 years is also allocated to support and improve the claims processing and digital capability of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

You can read a more detailed analysis of the Federal Budget and how it impacts older Australians by COTA >> Read here

Subscribe to our newsletter