For many of us, the funding of long-term care in Ontario can be a journey into the unknown. And with recent government announcements and media reports about new long-term care home construction, this journey can be perplexing. From government source documents and media releases this is my understanding of how our current long term care funding model works.
New nursing homes are paid for over a 25 year period with mainly taxpayer money. A home opening today would receive $329.50 per day funding for each of its beds. This “per diem” rate is comprised of a daily $65.32 co-payment from each of the home’s residents plus a $264.18 per diem payment from the Ontario government. This amounts to $120,267.50 per year – 20% paid for by the resident’s co-payments with the remaining 80% paid for by the Ontario taxpayer. Over a period of 25 years, the length of the Ontario government’s daily construction subsidy, a new 100-bed long-term care home (i.e. nursing home) by my calculation will cost $300M with $240M of that amount paid for by the taxpayer. This same funding model also applies to private for-profit nursing homes.
This funding model doesn’t seem right to me. I raise this matter because at two Stratford City Council meetings over the past five months, City Council has made reference to “long-term care” being discussed at an in-camera portion of Council’s meetings, resulting in no open discussion. I can understand that certain matters such as land acquisition are placed within an in camera setting so as not to impact the current market value of a land purchase under consideration. I also understand that Council is adamant in not wanting to add to the tax burden of city residents. But the concern related to private land acquisition may pale in comparison to the long-term tax burden placed on the shoulders of the taxpayer from the construction of new nursing home beds; the majority of which are now owned by private for-profit operators. This funding model is a serious concern me.
As an alternative, I have been advocating for increased homecare funding (which sits around $36 per diem in Ontario) combined with additional community-owned supportive housing units for Stratford and the area. More and more older adults wish to age in place – at home. For many older adults supportive housing makes a good choice for a home, with community-owned Woodland Towers being a fine example. And ideally, Stratford should locate new supportive housing, along with community-driven homecare, as an integral part of a Grand Trunk mixed housing renaissance.