After 65 — Support at Home, and the one thing it pays for in full
The NDIS shuts its door at 65 and aged care opens a different one. Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025. Eight funding levels, a priority queue, a 56-day deadline — and clinical services like physiotherapy that cost you nothing.
AustraliaCarer Payment and Carer Allowance — two different payments, and most people claim neither
One is an income support pension worth up to $1,200.90 a fortnight, the other a flat $162.60 supplement. They have different tests, and you can get both. Here is what Services Australia counts as care, the 63 respite days a year, and why "helping with medication" is on the official list.
AustraliaConcession cards — the piece of plastic worth more than most payments
A concession card cuts a PBS prescription from $25.00 to $7.70 and your medicine Safety Net threshold from $1,748.20 to $277.20. There are four cards, some arrive automatically and one you have to claim, and the Low Income Health Care Card has no assets test at all.
AustraliaDisability Support Pension — the 20 points, and why they must sit on one table
The NDIS funds services; the DSP pays you money. They are different agencies with different tests. For Parkinson's the decisive details are "reasonably treated and stabilised", the 20-point impairment rating, and whether those points land on a single Impairment Table or are spread across several.
AustraliaMedicare in Australia — the number that decides your year is five
Australia's Medicare is nothing like America's. For Parkinson's the decisive figure is the five subsidised allied health visits a year that a GP chronic condition management plan unlocks — plus a separate ten for mental health, and Safety Nets that only count what you actually paid.
AustraliaThe PBS and your Parkinson's medicines — why 2026 changed the arithmetic
Levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors and COMT inhibitors are all on the PBS. What you pay depends on one thing above all — whether you hold a concession card. Here are the 2026 numbers, the Safety Net you have to apply for, and the charges that quietly never count.
AustraliaThree payments nobody mentions — continence, equipment power bills and transport
Parkinson's is named on the eligible list for the Continence Aids Payment Scheme, which pays up to $739.40 a year and needs no concession card if your condition is neurological. Two more small payments cover the electricity to run medical equipment and the cost of getting to work.
Assistive devicesWalkers, wheelchairs and what Canada will pay for
Ontario's Assistive Devices Program ignores your income and pays 75% — but it funds a wheeled walker and not a standard cane, and it does not fund grab bars, stair lifts, ramps, batteries or repairs. Here is what is covered, who has to assess you, and where the excluded items get paid for instead.
EI sickness benefitsEI sickness benefits — 26 weeks to work out what comes next
Employment Insurance pays 26 weeks at 55% of your earnings, up to $729 a week in 2026, if you can't work for medical reasons. For a condition that does not resolve, the real value of those 26 weeks is the time they buy you to get a CPP disability claim decided.
Home and long-term careHome care and long-term care in Canada — the assessment decides everything
Nothing is allocated by diagnosis. A care coordinator assesses you, and one of the things they weigh is how well your family is already coping. Here is how the assessment works in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, what you pay, and the waitlist rules that can remove you from every list at once.
Provincial drug coverageYour Parkinson's drug bill in Canada depends on your province
Canada has no national drug plan for Parkinson's medication. Each province runs its own, most of them only cover you automatically at 65, and in British Columbia nothing happens at all unless you register. Here is what each plan charges and where the gaps are.
QuebecParkinson's in Quebec — the rules that are not the same
Quebec runs its own pension plan, its own compulsory drug insurance and its own home support system. The QPP disability pension has a different test, different contribution rules, a slower decision and no fast track for Parkinson's. Here is what changes if you live in Quebec.
Tax credits and RDSPAfter the Disability Tax Credit — the tax money most people leave behind
DTC approval unlocks more than the credit itself. The Medical Expense Tax Credit has a 12-month window you get to choose, the Home Accessibility Tax Credit covers $20,000 of renovations a year, and the RDSP pays up to $3,500 a year in matching grants — but only until the year you turn 49.
New ZealandACC and Parkinson's — the distinction that costs people money
ACC does not cover Parkinson's. It is an accident scheme, and Parkinson's is not an accident. But the broken wrist from a fall is a different question entirely, and so is an injury caused by treatment. Here is where the line sits and where the two systems collide.
New ZealandCarer Support and respite in New Zealand — days that turn into a budget, and the 90-day rule
Carer Support is allocated in days but can be treated as a yearly budget, the purchasing rules changed on 1 April 2026, and claims have to be in within 90 days. For the person supporting someone with Parkinson's, the harder problem is usually the nights.
New ZealandCommunity Services Card and High Use Health Card — two cards, two completely different tests
One is means-tested and unlocks free prescriptions and household help at home. The other counts your GP visits, ignores your income entirely, and has to be applied for by your doctor. With Parkinson's you may well qualify for both, and most people hold neither.
New ZealandDriving with Parkinson's in New Zealand — the declaration, the 75 rule and the OT assessment
A diagnosis does not take your licence. A medical declaration, a certificate no more than 60 days old, and sometimes a two-part occupational therapy assessment decide it. Knowing what that assessment tests changes how you prepare for it.
New ZealandEquipment and home modifications in New Zealand — the $50 rule and the $8,076 line
Wheelchairs, hoists and level-access showers are funded through Equipment and Modification Services, assessed by an occupational therapist. But items under $50 usually are not funded at all — and those are exactly the ones Parkinson's needs first.
New ZealandHome support in New Zealand — and the Community Services Card catch nobody mentions
Personal care and household management are two different entitlements with two different tests. One of them is only available if you hold a Community Services Card. Here is how visits are allocated, why the timing matters more than the hours, and what to do at 65.
New ZealandIndividualised Funding in New Zealand — pay your own people, and the April 2026 purchasing rules
Individualised Funding lets you employ your own support workers, including family. From 1 April 2026 it sits inside one set of flexible funding rules with four tiers, two purchase limits and a pre-approval list. Here is what the money can actually buy.
New ZealandNASC in New Zealand — the door everything else opens through
Home support, respite, equipment, day services and residential care all sit behind one gate: a Needs Assessment and Service Coordination organisation. Here is what the eligibility test actually asks, what changed in February 2026, and why an assessment booked for a good morning can cost you.
New ZealandParkinson's medicines in New Zealand — what Pharmac funds and what the $5 charge really costs
The core Parkinson's drugs are fully funded here with no Special Authority. The charges that add up are elsewhere — the $5 per item, the 20-item ceiling that resets every February, and the non-motor medicines your prescriber has to apply for.
New ZealandResidential Care Subsidy in New Zealand — the asset test, and the loan that keeps the house
Long-term rest home or hospital care is means tested against a threshold of $300,811, and a couple can choose which of two tests to be measured by. If you are over the threshold but your money is in the house, there is an interest-free Crown loan most people have never heard of.
New ZealandTotal Mobility and getting to appointments in New Zealand
When driving stops being an option, the taxi subsidy is the thing that keeps a life going. Total Mobility pays 65% of the fare from 1 July 2026, and there are three separate schemes for the cost of getting to hospital — with a rule against claiming from more than one.
New ZealandTurning 65 with Parkinson's in New Zealand — what changes, and what quietly lapses
NZ Superannuation is not income tested and it pays more than Supported Living Payment. But the support side of the system changes doors at 65, and that handover is where home help goes missing. Rates at 1 April 2026.
Durable Medical EquipmentWalkers, wheelchairs and hospital beds — what Medicare's DME rules actually require
Part B pays 80% of durable medical equipment, but only if it is medically necessary, ordered for use in your home, and bought from a supplier that accepts assignment. Each of those three conditions is where claims fail.
State programsFifty different answers — how to find what your own state actually offers
Half of what matters in the American system is decided by your state, not by Washington. Here is which half, which office holds each answer, and the questions that are worth asking by name.
MedicaidMedicaid and HCBS waivers — why help at home has a waiting list and a nursing home does not
Federal law makes nursing facility care a required Medicaid benefit and leaves most home care optional. That one asymmetry explains the waiting lists, the level-of-care test, and why you should apply years before you think you need it.
TaxThe medical expense deduction — the items people with Parkinson's forget to count
Only the part of your medical costs above 7.5% of AGI is deductible, so most households give up before they add everything. Mileage, home modifications, attendant wages and Medicare premiums all count, and together they change the answer.
MedicareMedicare with Parkinson's — the 24-month wait and the choices you can't easily undo
Parts A, B, C and D explained for a condition you will have for the rest of your life, plus how the two-year wait after SSDI actually works, what to do during it, and the one Medigap window that never reopens for people under 65.
Part DPart D when the prescriptions never stop — formularies, exceptions and the January cliff
Parkinson's drugs are not in Medicare's protected classes, plans rewrite their formularies every year, and the transition fill that saves you is only 30 days long. What to check each October, and how to force a plan to cover the drug you actually take.
MedicareMedicare therapy and home health — "not improving" is not a reason to stop
Medicare covers physical, occupational and speech therapy to maintain function or slow decline, with no annual cap. People with Parkinson's are told the opposite constantly. Here is what the rules actually say, plus the homebound test and the three-day trap.
SSDI work incentivesTrying work again on SSDI — the nine months, the safety net, and the deductions nobody claims
Social Security's work incentives let you test a job for nine months on full benefits, keep Medicare for nearly eight years, and restart benefits without reapplying if it does not last. The rules are generous and almost nobody is told them.
VA benefitsVA benefits — Parkinson's is a presumptive condition, and most veterans don't know
If you served where Agent Orange is presumed, VA does not make you prove your Parkinson's came from service. That one rule changes the claim entirely, and it opens the door to compensation, health care, long-term care at home, and a paid family care partner.
WorkAccommodations and FMLA — the mechanics that make staying at work enforceable
The ADA changes the job, the FMLA protects time away from it, and both turn on documents most people never see. How to make a request that counts, why Parkinson's fits the "chronic serious health condition" definition, and the deadlines that end a claim.
AustraliaThe NDIS in Australia — what List B does and doesn't get you
Parkinson's is on NDIS List B, but List B settles only that your impairment is permanent. Here is what else the NDIA has to be shown, why you must apply before you turn 65, and what an NDIS plan actually funds.
CanadaCanada's federal disability benefits — and the fast track for Parkinson's
Parkinson's is named on Service Canada's grave conditions list, which targets a CPP disability decision in 30 days instead of 120. Plus why the Disability Tax Credit is worth applying for even if you owe no tax.
New ZealandSupported Living Payment and Disability Allowance in New Zealand
Work and Income runs two separate payments that matter with Parkinson's — weekly income support, and a weekly reimbursement of ongoing disability costs that you can get even if you are not on a benefit. Rates as at 1 April 2026.
United StatesSSDI in the United States — what listing 11.06 actually asks for
Social Security has a listing written specifically for Parkinsonian syndrome. It has two routes, and the second one is the realistic one. Here is what it requires, plus the two waiting periods and where Medicare and SSI fit in.