Over-charged and ignored… Until we sorted it out!

When Deborah’s aged care Home Care Package (HCP) provider was providing statements that didn’t make sense, and they didn’t respond to her questions, she decided to do something about it.

She contacted Advocacy Tasmania and our aged care Financial Advocate worked with her to get to the bottom of the situation.

Our advocate found variations, statement inconsistencies, and unsigned variations in agreements. With further research he discovered that the provider had knowingly overcharged Deborah for the package management fee saying they did not want to run the risk of ‘confusing her’ by asking her to sign the paperwork for a reduction!

Our advocate worked with Deborah to get all the facts and case background, reviewed legislative requirements, reminded the provider of their responsibilities, and pushed them to do the right thing.

Our advocate also helped her to understand and compare the HCP she was on and the new one available, and then supported her to stay on her current package because she was better off that way.

As a result, Deborah managed to reduce her HCP Management fee by over 50%; have the overcharged difference reimbursed, have options provided for future payments and improve communication about when fees would be charged and how much they would be.

This is just one example of our older persons Financial Advocate’s work and unfortunately, we see this type of thing all too often.

So, if you think something about your financial dealings with others isn’t right, reach out to us.