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University of Western Sydney students play wheelchair basketball while volunteering with the Royal Rehabilitation Centre, Sydney. Photo: Max Mason Hubers By Colleen Ricci http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/1496062/the-cost-of-caring/?cs=24 Issues in the News National disability insurance scheme Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces the introduction of a levy to fund the national disability insurance scheme. What is DisabilityCare Australia? The national disability insurance scheme (NDIS), now known as DisabilityCare Australia, is a new healthcare program designed to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities as well as their families and carers. The idea for the scheme originated with a proposal from the Productivity Commission, which is the federal government's independent research and advisory body. It was charged with exploring new ways of providing care and funding to people with disabilities and its findings were documented in a report published in 2011. Its recommendation to establish the NDIS was greeted with strong bipartisan political support. Prime Minister Gillard highlighted the importance of the scheme for all Australians; acknowledging the possibility that being confronted with a disability exists for us all. Legislation for the scheme was passed earlier this year. What will the scheme provide? DisabilityCare is expected to assist about 410,000 people with permanent disabilities as well as their families and carers. While under current arrangements services are severely limited and sparsely located, the new scheme will be steadily built to offer a broad range of services that are more universally accessible. The expectation is that with additional choices available, those seeking care will have greater control over the treatment they receive; achieve higher levels of independence, and be granted improved opportunities to fulfil their potential. DisabilityCare aims to take a "whole-of-life" approach, recognising that disabilities often exist for a lifetime. Funding may be accessed for a variety of needs. For example: home improvements to create more effective and appropriate living spaces; to provide relief to parents of children with disabilities, or, to provide a new wheelchair customised to suit an individual's needs. Early intervention services will also be a focus, such as physiotherapy and speech pathology for children. What is the proposed levy? Ms Gillard announced that the government would increase the Medicare levy by 0.5 percentage points (from 1.5 to 2 per cent) to partially pay for the scheme. The levy, which will amount to about a dollar per day for the average taxpayer, will be collected from July 1, 2014, and deposited into a dedicated fund. DisabilityCare will not be fully operational until 2018- 19 and is estimated to cost $8 billion per year. The levy is expected to raise more than $3 billion annually from 2014; with a quarter of this money given to states and territories to enable the scheme to develop and grow. The funding shortfall will be paid by the states and territories, as well as federal budget funds. Treasurer Wayne Swan says the levy will provide disability services with a cumulative "stable, secure" funding stream. DisabilityCare will be rolled out from July 2013 in South Australia, Tasmania, and parts of Victoria and New South Wales. What are the Coalition's conditions? The government originally intended to take the levy proposal to the next federal election. However, a challenge from Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to bring the matter forward resulted in a counter-challenge from the Prime Minister, who agreed to do so if Mr Abbott approved the government's levy proposal. The opposition agreed to the levy – with conditions – but stated that if the Coalition were to win government in September, the levy would be removed once the budget returned to a strong surplus. Ms Gillard argued that the levy should be permanent. The opposition's conditions include: that legislation be passed in the current Parliament with all details made public; that the holding fund for the levy proceeds be established and supervised to avoid "raiding" to finance future government initiatives; to make it clear how participants become eligible for the scheme, and to provide specific details about how the scheme will be funded. What are people saying? Some call DisabilityCare the most important social and economic reform achieved by the federal Labor government. It has overwhelming backing, with most also supporting the levy. They argue that the levy provides secure funding that will be protected from the whims and competing demands of the federal budget. Others agree the scheme is necessary but disagree with the levy. However, when Myer CEO Bernie Brookes announced that a levy would harm the spending capacity of Myer customers, there was a social media backlash with many vowing to boycott Myer stores. Some not-for-profit organisations similarly felt that the levy would cause Australians to develop "donor fatigue" and become reluctant to contribute to other charities. Others countered this argument by noting that the employment of more care-workers will actually boost the economy. Some remain critical, describing the levy as a "lazy way to raise money", and one that would be unnecessary if the current government had not been "drowning in debt". Recent Headlines "Gillard says NDIS levy should be permanent", ABC News, May 5 "Labor fails to convert NDIS support to ballot box in latest Newspoll", The Australian, May 6 "One certainty: NDIS is no waste of money", The Age, May 3 "NDIS funding the latest battle in the war on success" The Sydney Morning Herald, May 2 What The Age says "A levy offers a secure funding stream to shield disability care from competing budget demands. Dedicating all proceeds to disability care would assure the public their money is being used for the proper purpose ... The Age has reservations about ad hoc levies to cover temporary needs – as with the recent flood levy. The DisabilityCare Australia scheme, though, has lasting and universal benefits; everyone is at risk of being affected by a disability." Editorial opinion, May 2 What people say "At last a political leader who is willing to admit that social programs are not free and that taxes may have to rise to pay for them." Tony Devereux, The Age, May 2 "I want to make it clear that Myer supports the introduction of an NDIS. Like many Australians, we support a scheme like the NDIS that will support the needs of individuals, families and carers for those with a disability. As a business, we are sensitive to imposts on the consumer by the government as this adds to negative consumer sentiment and that adversely impacts sales, profit and jobs. Ideally, we would like any government initiative to be funded within the revenue stream it has, rather than through a new or additional tax take." Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes, The Age, May 2 "It is going to be an achievement for all sides of politics, for all the people of Australia. It will be the sign, the visible institutional sign, of our decency and compassion as a country." Tony Abbott, The Australian, May 4 "I have an adult son with autism requiring one-to-one, 24-hour care ... Last night he was awake all night despite having taken a sleeping tablet at 2.30am. I am his main carer. If he is sick or his daytime disability worker cannot come, I cannot go to work. His disability has seeped into every aspect of my life; I cannot go out at night. Everyone will experience disability in some way." Dennis Sharples, The Age, May 2 "Australians with disabilities are sick of waiting for this. We believe it needs to be done now. What a levy does is it ... locks it in, it makes it perpetual. It means there's secure underpinning of the scheme." Craig Wallace, People with Disability Australia, ABC News, May 2 Web Links NDIS ndis.gov.au/ Productivity Commission report pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/disability-support/report See your ad here Minister for Families and Disability Reform, Jenny Macklin – press conference transcript jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/node/2330 Your View What are your thoughts about DisabilityCare? Is a levy the best way of paying for it? Why/Why not?