Baby boomers are outraged by a new report that suggests they should pay more for their aged care to ease the burden on millennials, with the sector predicted to cost taxpayers nearly $64 billion by 2034.
Currently, taxpayers foot a bill of more than $30 billion to support older Australians with the cost of their aged care.
But the idea boomers should pay more for their aged care if they can afford it has been rejected outright by Beverly Baker of the Older Women’s Network in NSW.
“When it comes to old age, we are seen as a burden … as greedy,” she told Channel 10’s The project Tuesday evening.
‘We fund childcare, we fund schools. We finance private health. We finance a number of things and they are never seen as a burden.’
Baby boomers are outraged by a new report that says they should pay more for their aged care to ease the burden on millennials, as the sector is predicted to cost taxpayers nearly $64 billion by 2034. A young woman on a beach is pictured
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the huge cost to taxpayers will continue to rise as ‘oover the next four decades the number of Australians aged 85 and over will more than triple.
‘So there is going to be an extraordinary amount of pressure.’
Tom Symondson of the Aged and Community Care Providers Association said: ‘Taxpayers as a whole already fund 75 per cent of home care and 59 per cent of home care.
“We need to look at whether wealthier Australians can contribute more … We’ve had a financially unsustainable aged care system for decades and everyone knows it.”
A previous royal commission into the sector suggested a 1 per cent Medicare-style levy to fund the services, but the new report rejected that proposal.
However, there are suggestions that home ownership status, or whether someone is eligible for the old age pension, could be considered when deciding whether those who use the aged care sector should pay more of the costs.
“It seems to me that this report was written by the providers for the providers,” Ms Baker said. ‘Coaches ways in which they can get their hands on more money.’
But Mr Symondson said the perception that the sector is making huge profits is ‘not true’ and the funding model needs to change to keep delivering ‘quality’ aged care to Australians.
When The Project’s Waleed Aly asked Ms Baker if seniors should have to dip into their super to fund their aged care, she gave an impassioned response.
Over the next four decades, the number of Australians aged 85 and over will more than triple. A woman walking with a Zimmer frame is pictured
‘Superannuation was designed to look after you as you get older. We gave up tax cuts and pay rises to contribute to our super. It was not there to be milked by eager providers to ensure their profits are preserved,” she said.
‘I have no problem when I die having absolutely nothing left in my super. I have a huge problem if not only do I have nothing left in my super, but my savings, my home, have also disappeared down the gargle into the providers’ pockets.
“We need clarity about what must be compulsory tested. How much will these providers be able to charge you for rent?’
Aly pressed her that the ever-increasing costs must be covered somehow, either by tax, charges or pension contributions.
“Waleed, what I worry about is that we are considered a cost,” she replied. ‘I heard baby boomers referred to as a “baby boomer tsunami”.
‘I don’t hear millennials being called a tsunami, but they outnumber us. We need to stop this old age thing and look at what we need and how we can fairly fund it.’
Beverly Baker (pictured) from the Older Women’s Network in NSW said it was wrong to see baby boomers as ‘greedy’
Ms Baker added that ‘When Covid started it was called the “boomer remover”. How insulting. This is a deliberate strategy. People think baby boomers are greedy and have hoarded everything and stolen everything.
‘They don’t understand that we grew up on dirt roads and ran around (in) bare feet. We changed things and built, for all, the wealth that this country shares.
‘We are now still seen as a burden. I don’t think that’s a fair or fair statement, but it’s a very clever way to keep us fighting each other instead of looking at the real problem, the disparity and the unfair tax system that delivers carrots to the wealthy and keeps himself to the poor.’
Project co-host Kate Langbroek was so impressed by Ms Barker’s response that she said: “There’s the wisdom of the elders right there. Amen.’