This woman's mother moved into a retirement home she could afford. 2 months later, her rent is up 14%
N.L. raised the rate paid for subsidized beds — and some who pay out of pocket are being hit with increases
When Dawn Furey's mother Margaret O'Grady had a stroke earlier this year, her family knew she needed more care than they could provide on their own. They began looking for a personal-care home, moving her into one in their hometown of Paradise because of its location and its affordability based on her pension.
That changed two weeks ago, when a memo was slipped under her mom's door at Kingsway Living: in 30 days, her monthly fee was going up more than $450, to just over $55,000 a year.
"An increase of 14 per cent blindsided us. We've been there less than two months," Furey told CBC News on Monday.
WATCH | How a surprise rent increase is throwing a senior's finances into disarray
Furey began looking to see if there was any protection under Newfoundland and Labrador legislation against that much of an increase with only 30 days' warning.
What she found was that personal-care homes don't fall under the provincial Residential Tenancies Act, which regulates rental increases, and are free to raise fees as much as they see fit.
"We could get a memo like this slipped under our door next month," said Furey.
Government raised rates for subsidized beds
Late last month, provincial Health Minister Tom Osborne announced $15.4 million to raise the rate for government-subsidized beds, an increase personal-care home owners had been lobbying for to counter rising costs.
The problem for O'Grady — and others like her — is that with her pension and Old Age Security, she doesn't qualify for government subsidy for her spot in the personal-care home and pays the entire amount out of pocket.
The increase means some tough decisions for the 79-year-old O'Grady and her family, says Furey.
I think I even might have to give up her pre-paid funeral expense. That's where we are, to make the numbers work.- Dawn Furey
"My mom always got her nails done, always had her hair done. She was used to being able to give to her grandchildren, and now she questions whether she can continue to do some of those things," said Furey.
The increase will eat up the rest of the funds O'Grady has available, says her daughter, and the family is looking for ways to cover the cost, including subsidizing her mother's costs themselves.
"I think I even might have to give up her pre-paid funeral expense. That's where we are, to make the numbers work," she said. "It's heartbreaking."
Furey said she's spoken to other seniors at the home in similar situations.
"One lady, she cried. She probably has to sell her home," she said. "These people went in there, they're seniors, they're vulnerable, they've set up their home there. They've put pictures on the wall. This is their home. And to get a memo slipped under their door with increases, 10 to 14 per cent, it's absolutely devastating."
Kingsway did not respond to CBC News' request for comment.
Abrupt increase suggests 'unprofessionalism,' says head of association
Shaun Lane, president of the Personal Care Home Owners Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, says the "long overdue" new rates negotiated with the government will allow care home owners to cover rising costs, including an increased pay for staff, which he said is good news.
"The difficult part with the rental increase is in some personal-care homes there are clients that do not qualify for a subsidy and they are, you know, paying their own rent 100 per cent out of their own pocket," he said.
"What we often say with that is every business has to decide what they want to do when it comes to addressing their private-pay individuals."
Lane's association represents about 50 home-care operators in the province, he said. Kingsway isn't among them, he said, and he said the abrupt and steep fee increase suggests some "unprofessionalism."
"The majority of homeowners that I've spoken to have been extremely, I would call, lenient or generous in providing this information to their private-pay people."
Some operations are giving three months' notice to clients he said, and some are phasing in any increase over time.
"At the end of the day, we're serving seniors, and we have to be professional in how we handle this and we also have to be compassionate and understand where people are coming from and how they're processing the information."
Health Minister Tom Osborne said Monday afternoon that the government funding was solely to increase the amount paid for a subsidized spot, and the rates for private-pay residents are at the discretion of the homes.
"We can dictate what government pays for government-subsidized beds, but I can't dictate what they charge a private paying customer. That's a relationship between the personal-care home and the private-pay customer."
The rates for personal-care homes hadn't been increased since 2017, he said, despite rising costs.
"That was intended, the increase and the retro [pay], to ensure that personal-care homes could continue to operate, continue to provide the valuable service that they do to the individuals that are there," he said.
Furey said she would have liked to see a phased-in approach and more notice — at the very least, it would give her mother and other clients more time to make other care arrangements.
"For this type of treatment of seniors, the owner is not willing to talk to them about it. A memo slipped under the door — I believe that they deserve better."
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With files from Terry Roberts
