How the fees are worked out
An aged care bill can have several lines on it, and it's not always obvious why. Most of it comes down to the means assessment. Services Australia looks at your parent's income and assets, then sets which contributions apply on top of the basic daily fee. These guides walk through that assessment step by step. They explain what each fee pays for, when the care contribution stops, and how super, savings and a lump sum are counted. They also look at why the first bill can differ from an estimate.
The aged care means test, explained
How Services Australia works out what your parent pays in an aged care home: the income test, the assets test, and the fees that follow.
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Every fee in an aged care home, line by line
The basic daily fee, the room, the hotelling and non-clinical care contributions, and optional extras: what each line on the bill pays for and who pays it.
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The care contribution caps: when the non-clinical care contribution stops
The non-clinical care contribution has a lifetime dollar limit and a four-year limit, and stops at whichever comes first. How the limits work and what counts.
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Does paying a lump sum change the fees and the pension?
A refundable lump sum for the room is treated one way for aged care fees and another for the Age Pension. What changes when cash becomes a lump sum, and what doesn't.
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Super, account-based pensions and deeming in the fee assessment
Super is treated in the aged care means assessment the same way as for the Age Pension. What matters is age, whether it pays an income stream, and when that started.
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Why the bill doesn't match the estimate
The fee advice letter or first invoice often differs from the online estimate or the home's quote. The usual reasons, how to check each one, and what to do if it looks wrong.
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