Province Off-Loading Costs of Long Term Care to the Frail Elderly and their Families

Province Off-Loading Costs of Long Term Care to the Frail Elderly and their Families

TORONTO (July 11, 2002) -- The Ontario government should immediately rescind its decision to force through a 15-per-cent increase in the amount that residents and their families have to pay for long term care.

"Instead of slapping seniors and their families with additional user fees, the government should recognize that it has a duty to provide a level of publicly-funded care that is available in other provinces," said Greg Fougere, Chair of the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS).

The province currently provides one of the lowest funding rates for long term care in the country. "But rather than accepting its responsibility to adequately fund the sector, the government has decided to shift more of the financial burden onto the backs of the frail elderly," Fougere said at a news conference at Queen's Park today.

Under the planned hike to take effect August 1, the basic rate paid by residents will increase from $44.51 to $51.53 a day. That's an increase of more than $7 a day, $213 a month, or $2,560 a year.

The 15-per-cent hike far exceeds the province's own rent increase guidelines of 3.9 per cent, yet apparently such an increase is acceptable to government when it comes to seniors living in these long term care facilities.

The government quietly announced the hike on June 28, the Friday before the last long weekend, by sending letters to long term care facilities. It did not consult OANHSS on this decision.

"The government has recognized that the system needs a significant infusion of money, but it has gone about it the wrong way," Fougere explained. "It should acknowledge its responsibility and step up to the plate."

The long term care sector estimates that the province needs to increase the amount it pays per resident from $63 to $85 a day. This increase, spread over the next two years, would ensure that residents continue to receive the level of care they require ... and it would avoid forcing residents to pick up a bigger portion of the cost.

"For more than a year now, we have been urging government to adequately fund the system. We never thought it would respond by passing the buck -- by forcing seniors and their families to foot more of the bill," said Fougere.

Without an adequate investment by government, many more Ontarians are going to be struggling financially. A survey conduced for OANHSS by Ipsos-Reid last year showed that 61 per cent of Ontarians say they are deeply concerned about the affordability of long term care.

OANHSS is the provincial association representing not-for-profit providers of long term care, services and housing for seniors. Its member facilities operate over 25,000 long term care beds and more than 5,000 seniors' housing units in Ontario.

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OANHSS members include not-for-profit providers of long term care, services and housing for seniors in Ontario.
Members include municipal and charitable long term care homes, non-profit nursing homes,
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