Penny pinching at its meanest

Senator Mitch Fifield, the Coalition’s spokesman for Disabilities, has condemned hidden changes in the Federal Budget which he said will impose new costs on a group of Australians with a disability. Carers Australia has expressed concerns if the Senator’s claim is correct.

Under the current Continence Aids Assistance Scheme, 58,000 people with severe and permanent incontinence are eligible for a subsidy of up to $479.40 towards the cost of continence aids and have their postage delivery charges covered up to four times a year.

Senator Fifield says that under budget changes, Continence Aids Payment Scheme recipients will now have to cover the postage delivery costs currently paid by the Government.

The Government will save $10.7 million under the new scheme, with users of continence aids contributing to the savings by putting their hand in their pocket for delivery costs.

“The cost of continence aids can be up to $4,000 per year for an individual. The government subsidy of $479.40 per year means many users of aids face significant out of pocket expenses which will now increase with the new delivery charge hit,” Senator Fifield said.

“This is penny pinching at its meanest”.

Carers Australia chief executive officer, Joan Hughes, said that these claims that continence aid users may face new charges for those aids would be a low blow if true.

Ms Hughes said the cost of postage had been covered by Federal Government regardless of its political makeup. Uncoupling the cost of the aids and the cost of postage would increase the financial stress for carers and make caring for those affected that much harder.

“If you’re caring for someone with continence issues then being able to order the aids without worrying about additional costs such as postage is as essential. We need to reduce the barriers to caring not increase them,” she said.