Parents sponsorship - Elderly care expense

[kimkim19]

I sponsored my parents, they landed five years ago as Parents sponsorship. My father started having alzheimer slowly and lately hospitalized due to covid. He is not mobile any more since the hospitalization.

I understand that his long term care expense would not be covered, but what about other support such as ontario home and comminity care?

Any input would be appretiated.

 

[canuck78]

I sponsored my parents, they landed five years ago as Parents sponsorship. My father started having alzheimer slowly and lately hospitalized due to covid. He is not mobile any more since the hospitalization.

I understand that his long term care expense would not be covered, but what about other support such as ontario home and comminity care?

Any input would be appretiated.

A large part of his LTC would be covered but not the monthly bed fee 1-1.5k+/ month depending on the LTC home, whether private, semi or ward room, etc. Alzheimer’s ward likely at a higher end of the scale. Realistically no extra care will be provided because of the demand on the system. Those who are the sickest or don’t have any family get hours. Family still does the majority of the care or pays for care if they can’t provide it or need to sleep no matter what in the community. It will likely be up to your family unless in palliative care and close to end of life. and you may get some PSW hours. You can speak to the social worker at the hospital (ask the nurse to see to see the social worker) for referral to the local homecare team for an assessment but realistically would not expect much. The social worker should be able to give you a realistic idea of how much a bed fee would be and what the waitlist are to get into LTC these days. They also may be able to give you an idea about whether you will qualify for any PSW hours. Would perhaps qualify for a few hours a week to do some form of bathing for example. The social worker could also help you look into rentals for a hospital bed, wheelchair (or purchase), etc. Sadly LICO is too low and IRCC does not clarify how much people need to be prepared to pay if their parents move to Canada. I have pointed out the issue of LTC costs many times and people always say the family plans on caring for their parents at home but that may not be possible. That comes with a cost for equipment rental but many families are dual income earners out of necessity so there is nobody to care for the parent during the day. Some have to leave employment to care for their family member or find a way to earn enough to pay the monthly bed fee. The wait time to get a bed in LTC is another issue and the new rules mean that you may not get into a local LTC right away. Best of luck no easy solution. While your father is in hospital I would start watching and asking the nurses questions about incontinence products and how to change them, how to position someone in bed and how often to move them and what you need to do to try and avoid skin breakdown, etc.

 

[canuck78]

Just verified the rates and they have gone up substantially since I last looked so you are looking at a minimum of 2k/month for a bed fee.

 

[YVR123]

And if you choose to care for him at home, you can option to rent or purchase some of the equitment. In BC, they allow you to borrow from Red Cross for a short period of time. And OT will show you how to use the equitments. But you need to figure out long term wise to rent or to buy them.
You may be shock on how expense some of those equitment cost. (e.g. air mattress to prevent bed sore is close to $1000 per piece and you need 3 to 4 sections to fill the hospital bed)

 

[kimkim19]

Thanks a lot for the information. Hope all goes well.

 

[teaquad]

I sponsored my parents, they landed five years ago as Parents sponsorship. My father started having alzheimer slowly and lately hospitalized due to covid. He is not mobile any more since the hospitalization.

I understand that his long term care expense would not be covered, but what about other support such as ontario home and comminity care?

Any input would be appretiated.

Sorry to hear about your dads situation.
my parents landed 1.5 years ago are in a similar state where mom has dementia and dad suffering for mental health issue is her caregiver, as i work full time and unable to take care of them. Was wondering if parents are eligible for old age home or LTC etc? how are you managing?

 

[canuck78]

Sorry to hear about your dads situation.
my parents landed 1.5 years ago are in a similar state where mom has dementia and dad suffering for mental health issue is her caregiver, as i work full time and unable to take care of them. Was wondering if parents are eligible for old age home or LTC etc? how are you managing?

How are people not anticipating these issues? In some provinces they are eligible to be put on a waitlist but you will have to pay for the bed every month. Waitlists can be long and dependent on province. What province do you live in?

 

[teaquad]

How are people not anticipating these issues? In some provinces they are eligible to be put on a waitlist but you will have to pay for the bed every month. Waitlists can be long and dependent on province. What province do you live in?

Ontario

 

[Naturgrl]

Ontario

Start doing research to see if parents are and get on waiting lists. You may not get to choose where a parent is placed depending on needs. Parents may not be in the same LTC.

https://ontariohealthathome.ca/

 

[Copingwithlife]

How are people not anticipating these issues? In some provinces they are eligible to be put on a waitlist but you will have to pay for the bed every month. Waitlists can be long and dependent on province. What province do you live in?

This should all be part of the plan when be gets picked to sponsor parents or grandparents .

It shouldn’t be an afterthought

 

[teaquad]

Start doing research to see if parents are and get on waiting lists. You may not get to choose where a parent is placed depending on needs. Parents may not be in the same LTC.

https://ontariohealthathome.ca/

thank you. Unlike OHIP, im guessing LTC homes would be an out of pocket expense?

 

[Naturgrl]

thank you. Unlike OHIP, im guessing LTC homes would be an out of pocket expense?

https://www.ontario.ca/page/paying-long-term-care

 

[canuck78]

thank you. Unlike OHIP, im guessing LTC homes would be an out of pocket expense?

LTC care is partially covered by OHIP. Caring for someone in LTC is much more expensive than the ~2k/month that you are required to pay out of pocket. If your mother does not qualify for LTC and her needs are not very high then there are retirement homes the cost 5-10k/month may be an option. Having potential expenses like 2k/ month for LTC is why LICO being so incredibly low is problematic. Most don’t have an extra 2k/month for even one parent if they need LTC. Some provinces require you to live the province for 10 yrs before qualifying for LTC because it is expensive to run and there are huge waitlists so favour those who have likely worked and paid taxes in that province. You could also consider hiring a caregiver privately during day which may be your only option if you get on the LTC waitlist which can be months to years depending on where you live and how your needs are assessed in the system, whether someone needs a locked unit, etc. If care is relatively inexpensive in someone’s home country people are often able to hire nurses, cooks, cleaners, etc. for 24/7 care for a similar or less amount of money.

 

[Copingwithlife]

I’ll give an example . My father is 90 . We’re exploring LTC facilities in Calgary .
Right now it’s ranging from $8000-12000
a month .
It’s not for the faint of heart .
On the flip side his sister is in a public facility, it’s covered by her CPP OAS. But they’ve both lived in the province for 90 & 94 years respectively

 

[canuck78]

I’ll give an example . My father is 90 . We’re exploring LTC facilities in Calgary .
Right now it’s ranging from $8000-12000
a month .
It’s not for the faint of heart .
On the flip side his sister is in a public facility, it’s covered by her CPP OAS. But they’ve both lived in the province for 90 & 94 years respectively

My pricing is a bit out of date. Most in Canada don’t understand the costs of ageing and what will and won’t be covered. People would assume renting a hospital bed for your home would be free for example or getting mobility aids are free but typically there are costs associated with all these things.