I'm not sure you are getting the picture.
If an aged person needs a hospital bed then every aged person has equal access to that hospital bed regardless of wealth. But to be in hospital they need to be pretty sick.
After hospital there are essentially two choices. Return to home with appropriate home based care services put in place. Or be assessed as requiring a certain level of residential care.
You now split this second option in two. If a person decides for themsleves they want to go into residential care they pay all costs - no government funding. Alternatively if the health system assesses them as needing residential (basic) care they are then eligible for a DHB / Government residential care subsidy to pay for that care. To get a Residential Care Subsidy you need to pass a means test and essentially be "poor" )if you call having less then a quarter of a mil in assets poor).
The likes of OCA dont have a choice of who they admit for care. Agreed - (except a person has to be eligible for NZ health care). But they do have choices in that they can decline an aged person if they dont have a level of care bed available at the level of care required. So say for example they only have "ensuite attached" beds available then the "poor" person wont get that bed because the govt subsidy wont pay for the extra. The "poor" person will need to look elsewhere for a bed.
Given teh $250k means test threshold I think you will find there is an enormous pipleline of "rich" private clients who will be prepared to pay over the odds to make a difference in their care in the later stages of their life.
One day , if we ever get the latest census data we might have a better idea of the total number of owner occupied homes and the age demographic - but from old data we know there is an aging population and we know too many of these people are holding onto their own property - causing a housing shortage.
Heres a bit from the Ministry of Health
How does a person apply for a residential-care subsidy?
Not everyone is entitled to funding under the Social Security Act 1964.
A person must first have a needs assessment from a DHB or DHB funded Needs Assessment Service Coordination agency (NASC). If the needs assessment determines that the person requires long - term residential care indefinitely and the person wishes to apply for a Residential Care Subsidy, then the DHB or NASC will provide the person with a financial means assessment application form to complete.
The Ministry of Social Development (through Work and Income) then carries out a financial means assessment that considers the person’s assets and income, and any gifting that has occurred.
The financial means assessment has two components:
- An asset test
- An income test.
If the person has assets above the applicable asset threshold then the person is liable to pay for the costs of their care up to the maximum contribution.
If the person’s assets are equal to or below the applicable asset threshold, they qualify for Government funding (the residential care subsidy) to pay for most of the cost of their care. An income test will then determine what the person must contribute to the cost of their care. The level of subsidy will depend on the type of care the person is assessed as requiring.
A weekly personal allowance and an annual clothing allowance are paid separately to the person. are holding onto properrty which is resulting in a housing shortage.