The Honourable Chester Gillan, Minister of Health, today announced the Department of Health staff has completed a significant portion of the work required to implement announced changes to long-term care funding. Government has established a $65 a day accommodation rate which will be charged to self-paying residents in government manors. Previously, the rate applied to health and accommodation costs and ranged between $127 and $136 per day based on the level of nursing care required. Each private nursing home will be establishing its own accommodation rate for self-paying residents.
The Department of Health also carried out detailed discussions with the private nursing home sector, which provides 40 per cent of the provincial nursing bed complement. A tentative agreement has been reached with this sector in terms of funding arrangements for the health care portion of costs for all residents as well as the funding arrangements for subsidized residents.
Minister Gillan said, “Basically two things have changed. Firstly, the cost of care has significantly decreased for self-paying residents in nursing homes as they will no longer be required to cover the health care portion of their cost, only the accommodation portion. Secondly, eligibility for subsidization will now be based on assessment of income rather than on the applicant’s total financial resources (income and assets). As a result, residents will no longer be required to liquidate their assets to pay for their cost of care.”
The Department of Health will cover basic health care costs which include nursing and personal care, incontinence and infection control measures and basic supplies for hygiene and grooming. Residents will pay the accommodation costs which will cover room and board, including meal service, housekeeping, laundry and social/recreational activities.
Residents will continue to be responsible for personal expenses which include, but are not limited to, eyeglasses, hearing aids, dental service, telephone service, hairdressing, dry cleaning, ambulance service and general transportation.
The long-term nursing care “placement” process has not changed. Placement of anyone assessed as requiring long-term nursing care will be carried out as per the usual placement process during implementation of these financial policy changes.
Minister Gillan said, “We are pleased to have reached this stage in a significant policy change which will better meet the needs of Island seniors. Government will now fund the basic health care portion for nursing home residents as well as implement a new test for financial assessment of those applying for subsidization. Staff will be carrying out financial assessments based on the new rates and income test.” For residents currently in a long-term care nursing facility, their financial arrangement will remain in place until staff have had the opportunity to reassess their individual situation. Any adjustments identified in this reassessment process will be retroactive to January 1, 2007.