Your gift to nursing home barons

YOU MAY not realise it, but the Australian Government is about to take possession of the homes of just about all older Australians who need aged care.

The Australian Government will make you sell or reverse mortgage your house to pay for aged care, unless you have substantial other assets. Not just if you or your partner needs to go into a nursing home.

It is not limited to that.

The Australian Government is also taking over Home Care from State and Territory Governments and will make you pay.

Well over a million households will end up having to sell or reverse mortgage their home to pay for aged care, both at home and in nursing homes.

The Australian Government is about to include your house, for which you worked hard, in the means test for aged care.

If you need help with cleaning or with home maintenance through Home Care, you will probably need to reverse mortgage your house.

If your partner needs to go into a nursing home, you can keep living in your house, but you don’t own it anymore. It will be reverse mortgaged.

If you don’t want to lose your house, you need to let the Australian Government know what you think about this outrage.

THE VOICE suggests you use the form letter on our Aged Care Campaign page to write to Prime Minister Julia Gillard to make your views known.

For more details on what the Australian Government wants to do with your home, read the Aged Care Reform Proposals summary here.