Canberra disabled pensioner Margot Harker has had a win over funding arrangements for her at-home care but fears she received the attention only because she was a "squeaky wheel".
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The end result is that she will be able to stay in her home with the same amount of hours of care at no extra cost to her and, in fact, have a small surplus of hours each month which will cover public holidays.
She has urged others similarly concerned about the new funding program, called Consumer Directed Care, to take up the federal government's offer to provide an advocate to better negotiate their arrangements or, failing that, for the government to conduct a review of their case.
"I've been saying to everyone, just ring the hotline, and get yourself an advocate," she said.
Ms Harker, of O'Connor, went to the media with her concerns in May, saying she would rather commit suicide than be forced to live in a nursing home, something she believed would be the ultimate result of the new arrangements.
She also started a petition on change.org which was signed by more than 23,000 people.
Ms Harker, whose left side was paralysed by a stroke in 2011, has carers come into her home for 90 minutes in the morning and for an hour at night to help her dress and undress and to help prepare meals. Her service provider had told her that under the new arrangements, she would either have to pay $2185 a month, cut her hours or move into a nursing home.
She said last month three senior staff from the Department of Social Services in Sydney visited her and her advocate at her home in O'Connor to try to resolve her concerns, including negotiating with her service provider.
The end result is she is receiving the same services with no extra cost, largely achieved by using a secondary service provider which had funds available from a different program.
Ms Harker said while she was relieved she was also concerned about many other people who might be in a similar situation.
"I've got what I wanted being the squeaky wheel but I'm also the thin edge of the wedge," she said.
The government provides home care packages to support people to live at home independently for as long as possible.
Information from the Department of Social Services said previously there had been "very little transparency from a consumer point of view about the value of a package and the costs of the various elements of the package, including how much a provider takes in the form of administration charges".
As a result, from July 1, funding has come as individual packages rather than as block funding to service providers,so they can be better tailored to people's needs and recipients can have a greater say in how the funding should be used.
However, some people, such as Ms Harker, were also told by their provider that they would receive fewer hours of care and need to pay additional costs.The department advises people concerned about the care packages to first discuss any concerns with their provider. An advocate is available to be part of those negotiations on 1800 700 600.
