The province is providing more than $10 million to continuing care operators to help offset pending increased charges for long-term care and designated supportive living residents.
Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says the move “is the right thing to do” while the opposing NDP says the government needs to do more.
Under current legislation, operators are allowed to increase accommodation rates on July 1 by the rate of inflation over the previous 12 months. The increase in 2022 will be 5.5 per cent.
The government says it will provide $10.4 million directly to the operators for the increase for July 1 to Sept. 30, and will be looking at options going forward after Sept. 30.
“This year’s inflation rate is unusually high, and passing it on in full would be an undue strain on continuing care residents and families,” Copping said in a release. “Giving them a break is the right thing to do. At the same time, operators are being impacted by inflation.”
Lori Sigurdson is the NDP critic for seniors and housing.
“While offsets to accommodation charges can be seen as a positive sign, this government is again showing that Albertans cannot trust the UCP with caring for those in need,” Sigurdson said.
“As the cost of living has skyrocketed, the UPC have diminished supports for seniors by refusing to index the seniors benefit, meaning those in need are getting less and less support over time.”
Accommodation charges are collected for such things as meals, resident rooms, and housekeeping services.
Anthony Pizzino is the chief executive officer of the National Association of Federal Retirees, which advocates for seniors in Canada.
“While any reduction to long-term costs for residents are helpful, this measure is temporary, and we are concerned that this may benefit care operators more than the residents themselves,” Pizzino told Great West Media.
“This is just one reason why Federal Retirees believes Alberta needs an independent seniors advocate to look out for the rights and well-being of the nearly 700,000 older adults in Alberta.”
