After your referral to My Aged Care has been actioned, that is that you have been contacted by a Regional Assessment Service (RAS) or the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT or ACAS in Victoria) you or your ageing loved one will be assessed to determine the level of support likely to be required.
A RAS assessor will approve for support and services under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and the ACAT assessor will approve for a Home Care Package (HCP).
If, during the RAS assessment, the RAS assessor feels your needs are higher than what can be provided under CHSP then the RAS assessor 
will refer to the ACAT.
If you are approved for support and services under CHSP, the RAS assessor will refer on to a local CHSP provider and the CHSP provider will contact you about commencing support and services.
Choosing a CHSP provider.
There are many different CHSP providers offering support and services under this funding, some are large organisations and others are smaller, but nonetheless very good providers.
You can search for CHSP providers in your local area by entering your post code on the My Aged Care website, but the listings on the site aren’t always accurate so it is a good idea to speak with local people and organisations in your town to find out who others are using to provide local support and services.
The My Aged Care guide to Commonwealth Home Support Programme services suggests you are able to discuss and negotiate your preferred CHSP provider with your RAS assessor.
I encourage you to nominate your preferred provider rather than just accept who the RAS assessor nominates.
That said though, CHSP support and services are in high demand due to the backlog of people waiting for a Home Care Package and given that providers have limitations with their resources (staff) they may not be able to accept referrals.
In my town nearly all of the CHSP providers are at capacity and are not taking on any more clients, so there is very little room to move in selecting your preferred provider.
So in this instance, accepting whichever provider offers you support through CHSP is probably not a bad idea.
Transitioning from CHSP to a HCP.
Where you need to be more diligent is in deciding upon who the provider will be for your Home Care Package.
As the industry has become more competitive and more providers are vying for those Commonwealth subsidies, there now exists choice that we hadn’t seen before.
The consumer is now the ‘owner’ of their Home Care Package funding, not the provider (though it is a provider who administers the funding).
If you are receiving CHSP support and services while waiting for an offer of a HCP and then you receive that much needed offer of a package, this is when you need to employ your diligence and start researching and speaking to other recipients of HCPs in your community.
You have 3 months to accept an offer of a HCP so take the time to do your research.
As mentioned previously, CHSP providers are generally good at providing basic or entry level support and services (in my experience), but when it comes to those same providers administering a HCP, then the goal posts may move.
Home Care Package providers will charge from as little as 10% of your funds to administer your package or they may charge as much as 50%.
Yes, 50%…half of YOUR package funds going to THEIR agency in ‘administration costs’.
In my town there is a wonderful provider who is charging a 10% administration fee and who is delivering true client directed care and there is another provider who is charging a 50% administration fee and rarely shows up or delivers the services the client has requested and agreed to under the home care agreement.
Administration costs though should not be the defining criteria for you in making your choice of package provider.
You really need to drill down into the finer details of all costs and services offered and compare the costs and the services of 2 or 3 providers (if you have the luxury of having 2 or 3 providers in your area).
When you have your first meeting with a provider of a HCP, write everything down…the cost of administering the package, the cost of the ‘care coordination’ item, the hourly cost of having a carer attend your house, the cost of the carer travelling to your house (providers may charge an additional cost for longer distances) the contribution (or not) to the contingency fund and the cost of the exit fee and the ease with which the provider will allow you to exit their service and sign with a new provider (this would occur if you were unhappy with your current provider).
At this point do not sign the agreement.
Some providers are very assertive at this time and will really put the pressure on you to sign the agreement.
There is no urgency to sign an agreement even if you are desperate for the support and services, take the time to do your research and sign with whichever package provider you think will be best for you.
Remember, you have 3 months to accept the offer of the package!
When you have everything written down from that first meeting with a provider, use that information as a prompt in discussion with your second and third choices of provider.
Ask the same questions and get quotes on the same services and support so you are comparing apples with apples so to speak.
When you have had the time to compare the costs and the support and services your potential package provider is willing to offer, then you are ready to enter into an agreement with a provider.
Related blog posts.
Introduction to assessment.
Choosing a provider.
Home Care Packages and fees.
Dad’s HCP 4.
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