The Aged Care Association says the Government has promoted care in the home as the more compassionate and cost-effective option for older people – but workers are covering hidden costs.
By Kate Green of RNZ
Aged care advocates say the fuel crisis has exposed a longstanding problem, with home-based care only cheaper on paper because carers are shouldering hidden costs.
The Aged Care Association, advocacy group for aged care providers, said a recent report by RNZ on unions taking Health NZ to court over travel costs should be a wake-up call for policymakers.
The association said that for years, the government had promoted care in the home as the more compassionate and cost-effective option for older people.
But it argued home-based care was only cheaper because key costs like travel were being put onto support workers.
"This is not efficiency. It is cost displacement."
It said time spent driving between clients, workforce turnover, missed early interventions and avoidable hospital admissions all carried real costs which were not being counted in the comparison.
The fuel price spike had not created a problem, the association said - it had revealed one.
On Wednesday, ministers told RNZ they had sought urgent advice about how best to ease the pain of rising fuel prices for in-home care workers and other public servants who might be in a similar plight.
Support workers are not fully reimbursed for their transport costs despite having to visit injured, disabled or elderly people as part of their job.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said the Government was acutely aware of how fuel prices were hurting carers – and he hoped to resolve that very soon.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said they were waiting on advice about how to deliver temporary, targeted and timely help to care workers.
Various reports on the topic have looked at the cost of home-based care and residential care.
One report, commissioned by HNZ and written by Sapere in January 2024, said: "The average Te Whatu Ora spend on a subsidised client in a rest home in 2022/23 was $65,000 per annum, whereas the average cost per client for HCSS [home and community support services] service delivery including IBT [in-between travel] was approximately $7,400."
Another, from June 2024, found by supporting low need individuals through home care support, and removing those with the lowest need, the country could save $1.69 million between 2024/25 and 2039/40.
This story has been updated to include the findings of various reports on the cost of care in the home compared with residential care facilities.
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