Physiotherapy is a popular search topic for older Australians, often because people worry about the cost. Here is the headline most people miss: physiotherapy under Support at Home is clinical care, and clinical care is fully government-funded. It does not come out of your package budget. Here are eight plain-English ways to make the most of that.
1. Know that physio is free to you
Allied health, including physiotherapy, is funded separately by the government under Support at Home. A physio session does not reduce the money available for cleaning, personal care, or transport. The most important point: physio under Support at Home costs your budget nothing.
2. Use the physio your plan allows
Because physiotherapy does not draw on your budget, the saving is in using it. If physio would help your mobility, balance, or recovery, ask your case manager to include it in your care plan. You are using funded care, not spending your own.
3. Do not pay privately for what Support at Home covers
Some people pay out of their own pocket for private physio, not realising their Support at Home plan can cover the same clinical care at no cost. Before paying privately, ask your provider whether the physio can be delivered as funded clinical care.
4. Use physio to prevent falls
A physiotherapist can improve your balance and strength, which reduces the risk of a fall. Since physio is funded, there is no budget reason to wait. Preventing a fall is far cheaper, and far safer, than recovering from one.
5. Ask for a physio review after any change
After a hospital stay, an illness, or a decline in mobility, ask for a physiotherapy assessment. Funded physio caught early can keep a small problem from becoming a large one.
6. Choose a provider that uses clinical care well
Some providers are better than others at building allied health into a care plan. Ask a prospective provider how they include physiotherapy and other clinical services. A provider that uses your funded clinical entitlement fully is getting you more care overall.
7. Combine physio with other funded clinical care
Nursing, occupational therapy, and podiatry are also fully government-funded clinical care. Used together with physiotherapy, they keep you well and mobile at no cost to your package budget. Ask your case manager about the full clinical menu.
8. Choose a self-managed package for everything else
Physiotherapy is funded, but personal care, cleaning, and transport are not. A self-managed package keeps fees low and can deliver close to twice the care hours of a high-fee fully-coordinated package. So use funded physio fully, and use a self-managed package to stretch the rest.
The bottom line
You do not save on physiotherapy by cutting it, because it is already free to you. You save by using your full physio entitlement and not paying privately for clinical care your plan covers.
See how a self-managed package stretches your non-clinical budget with the SAH budget calculator, and compare providers in your area with the find-care comparison.