Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor says older Australians often preferred to make inquiries in person or over the phone, rather than online.
That’s why local residents needing aged care support can now call a national 1800 phone line for one-on-one advice.
“We’ve announced a raft of improvements to My Aged Care – streamlining of registrations, simplified means testing – so I would encourage older Australians to ring and get the information they need to make informed decisions,” Mr Taylor said.
“While the My Aged Care website is pretty popular – receiving more than three million visits last year – you can also pick up the phone until 8pm weeknights or on Saturdays til 2pm.”
Addressing Camden senior citizens this week, Mr Taylor took questions on energy prices, the need for hospital upgrades and more local specialists, as well as services available through My Aged Care.
He said the public would welcome development of a new Federal web service, to allow comparison of aged care providers.
“Part of my message to Camden residents was that we are helping older Australians stay in their own homes for longer.
“This is very much our focus and towards this, we’ve funded more than 14,000 extra high level home care packages across Australia.”
He said 400 Hume residents currently access Home Care packages.
For more information call the My Aged Care hotline on 1800 200 422 or visit the website at www.myagedcare.gov.au
What the doctors really need is proper funding so that they can properly care for the aged not a phone line to some call centre in some overseas country. The cost of getting into an aged care facilities is some $40-50,0000 so it not a surprise that in the 85yo men group we have the highest rate of suicide in the country and because politicians think we have had our life they never talk about this neglect.
This Coalition Government has cut funds to aged care so now the average stay in hospital care is less than a fortnight because we prefer to stay at home even if it is in pain.
In Macarthur there is a coming crisis in aged care because of the big growth of the welfare housing in the sixties and seventies age group and as some 90% of the heads of these households were women these are moving into aged care times but without the funds to get care.
But those who should be concerned call these people “leaners” and apparently look forward to out demise and relief to the budget.
This is supposed to be a lucky country but not if you are poor and elderly.
Shame.