The second increase in superannuation this year has resulted in a multimillion-dollar boost to district health board coffers which aged care providers are keen to see passed on.
District health boards lead chief executive for aged residential care Chris Fleming, of South Canterbury, said yesterday he had advised the aged care sector that boards were committed to ensuring the funding was applied to that sector.
He could not be more specific about exactly where the funding would go or say how much money would be involved, but it would be "many millions" nationally.
More information would be available in a couple of weeks time.
Presbyterian Support Otago chief executive Gillian Bremner is among those asking that the funding go directly to rest- homes.
When a superannuitant is in long-term residential care, the bulk of their superannuation, apart from a personal spending allowance, is paid to the relevant district health board as a contribution to the cost of their care.
The board then makes up the difference between that and the nationally agreed bed-rate and passes on the money to those contracted to provide residential care.
Usually the contract is agreed at a time when it can incorporate any increase in superannuation which occurs in April.
This year, however, superannuitants have received two increases, the second of them on October 1, after the national contract with providers was agreed.
This year's contract gave a 2.8% increase to providers' bed rate, but Mrs Bremner said providers could "quite reasonably expect" and now that the second increase of 3.1% had been received by superannuitants, it should flow through to the bed rate to account for cost pressures in food and energy as well as wages.
She estimated that the money could result in about $250,000 for her organisation, which runs seven rest homes and hospitals in Otago, over a year.
The money should be used to benefit those superannuitants who were in care, she said.
She had raised the issue with the Ministry of Health and the Minister's office in June and it had been agreed that this situation would need to be considered, but the boards had not acted before superannuation rose on October 1.
