PAYG

• The government’s Aged Care Taskforce is investigating aged-care funding options to develop a “fair and equitable” system, while exploring efficiency, affordability and sustainability.
• The less asked, but more important, question is whether the general tax revenue model the government uses to fund aged care is an appropriate model to promote sustainability.
• While a social insurance model is the main alternative, it won’t be the silver bullet we’re looking for to fix our aged-care funding crisis.

How would social insurance work?

• A social insurance model would use either voluntary or compulsory contributions from worker salaries to cover the cost of aged-care services.
• The first social insurance model was established in 1883 by the first chancellor of the German Empire, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
• While this model works reasonably well in these countries, whether a social insurance model is right for funding aged care in Australia is debatable.

Is social insurance efficient?

• A social insurance model would require new legislation and a government agency managing reserves, increasing administration costs.
• Whether a social insurance model is more efficient from a market perspective depends on how the government would otherwise increase general tax revenue.
• The impact on efficiency from a social insurance model would be equivalent to an increase in income tax rates under a general tax revenue model.

Is social insurance equitable?

• Other differences exist between general tax and social insurance models when assessed against equity.
• A social insurance model that builds up funds may better match contributions with future costs.
• But this requires a big ask from workers, to simultaneously build up the fund for future aged-care costs and pay for current aged-care costs.

What else should the government consider?

• The government does not ask workers to contribute to their future health-care costs, nor to future social payments such as the aged pension.
• The best path toward sustainable aged-care funding is for the government and consumers to pay more.
• The problem of securing aged-care funding may lie less in the funding model and more in securing government commitment when fiscal priorities change.

• TSB Bank plc has agreed an extended partnership with debt resolution system supplier Flexys Solutions.
• Following a successful project to provide a digital solution for TSB customers to manage Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) repayments and Pay As You Grow (PAYG) options, Flexys will continue working with TSB to deliver ongoing support to business customers.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230418005152/en/
  TSB and Flexys Solutions Extend Technology partnership (Graphic: Business Wire)
  BBLS formed the backbone of support for British businesses that saw their revenue disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The digital solution supplied by Flexys enables TSB customers to conveniently manage their loan over the full term, helping them make informed decisions about which options, if any, are appropriate for them.

• NEW YORK, Oct. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ComplyCube , the global AML compliance and identity verification platform, has announced an overhaul of its pricing models.
• The ISO-certified Software as a Service (SaaS) company currently serves enterprises of all sizes across the globe.
• "With 2 out of every 3 customers approaching us being an SMB, it made perfect sense to craft pricing plans that fit their needs," says Cristina Martinez, Business Partnerships Manager at ComplyCube.
• ComplyCube had recently revamped its Startup Program to enable more eligible early-stage and growing businesses to access its industry-leading platform and acquire credits worth up to $50,000.

• Tampa, FL, Sept. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pocket Network , the top decentralized Web3 infrastructure protocol, is rolling out a major update to its Pocket Portal service.
• Designed to onboard developers to tap into Pocket Networks global, decentralized network of RPC nodes, the Pocket Portal enables Web3 developers to easily create accounts, mint RPC endpoints for their dApps, and access blockchain data across any of Pockets dozens of supported blockchains.
• Weve completely revamped the backend and frontend of the Pocket Portal to optimize the user experience, giving Web3 developers the ability to turn our infrastructure as a service platform into infrastructure as an asset.
• With this overhaul of its Pocket Portal gateway, Pocket Network is now offering a truly self-service access point to decentralized RPC infrastructure service.