# Home and Community Support versus Residential Care Cost Comparison

**Source Organisation:** Sapere Research Group / RNZ
**Publisher:** Radio New Zealand
**Publication Date:** March 2026
**Original Source URL:** https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/health/591157/home-based-care-only-cheaper-because-carers-cover-costs-aged-care-association-says
**Category:** funding-finance
**Document Type:** Brief
**Document ID:** doc-0515
**Tags:** #funding-finance #NZ #home-support #residential-care #cost-comparison #pip-evidence

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## Key Facts & Findings

- Average Health NZ spend on a subsidised rest-home client in 2022/23 was about $65,000 a year.
- Average spend per home and community support client was roughly $7,400, including in-between travel.
- The populations receive different levels of care, so the figures cannot establish an efficiency saving.
- The Aged Care Association disputes the comparison as cost displacement rather than proven efficiency.
- Use the figures as a system-spend comparison only, never as a saving attributable to PiP.

## Summary & Research Notes

RNZ reports headline findings from a January 2024 Sapere analysis for Health NZ comparing public spending on subsidised residential care and home and community support. The figures are directionally useful for ageing-in-place policy, but they are not a like-for-like efficiency comparison because the populations receive different levels of care and the comparison excludes costs borne by whānau and workers.

## Evidence & Quality Scores

- **Authority Score:** 4/100
- **Freshness Score:** 5/100
- **Relevance Score:** 5/100
- **Knowledge Base Value:** 5/100
- **Target Audience:** Health funders, aged-care providers, home-support providers, and policy analysts