Public long-term care home rate increase 'unreasonable,' P.E.I. Liberals say

Increasing room rates at public long-term care homes on P.E.I. by as much as $13 a day is "unreasonable to put on a family at one time," says interim Liberal Leader Hal Perry.

Health P.E.I. announced Monday the maximum daily rate will change from $92.19 to $105.78 per day due to rising inflation and to align with private LTC rates.

The change took effect Tuesday for people entering long-term care. Current residents will see the new rates starting Oct. 1.

Only 15 per cent of current manor residents will be impacted, as the remaining 85 per cent are covered by the LTC subsidization program and aren't affected by the rate change.

The rate hike means some Islanders could be paying about $5,000 more a year to keep their loved ones at public LTC facilities.

Perry said that while costs are rising, he thinks the rate increase should have been phased in more to protect financially vulnerable families.

"It's primarily about the timing of this and the impact that will have on families with such a dramatic increase at one time," he said. 

"Groceries are up, the cost of everything is going up these days. So many families are already struggling financially and have already made budgets for this year."

Andrew MacDougall, executive director of community health and seniors care for Health P.E.I., said matching public and private LTC rates prevents there's more demand for either option based on the rate difference.

"It's not a happy day when rates have to go up. We certainly appreciate that," he said.

"There's been a lot of inflationary pressures as everyone knows, ... but the overarching reason I would say would be to maintain parity with rates that residents are charged in both public and private long-term care homes in the province."