Her loved one got a $5,200 bill under the long-term care law. Ontario repeatedly said no charges were reported

For the first time, the Ontario government has confirmed seven people have been charged fees under a controversial law that says patients who refuse to move out of the hospital and into a long-term care bed must pay $400 a day.

This comes after the government repeatedly denied any charges under Bill 7, the More Beds, Better Care Act, since it took effect in November 2022.

It also comes after CBC News told the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Long-Term Care that it has seen a copy of a $5,200 invoice paid by a Chatham-Kent resident last year. 

Tamara Moir told CBC News that her father-in-law paid the bill after the family refused to move him from a Chatham-Kent hospital and into a long-term care home that they didn't choose.  

But more than once over the last year, media reported the Ministry of Long-Term Care and the Ontario Hospital Association have said no charges have been levied under the bill.

Most recently, Long-Term Care Minister Stan Cho told media he wasn't aware of any fees charged.

"I'm getting tired of hearing that no fines were issued when our father-in-law was issued a fine," said Moir. 

The discrepancy around whether patients have been billed adds to the controversy surrounding the law. Advocates have previously said the bill violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and are now raising questions around how the law has been enforced and how the government is measuring its impact if it wasn't aware of when it was being used. 

Moir said her father-in-law, who is now 93, spent February 2023 in hospital with pneumonia. After a short stay at his assisted living residence, he landed in hospital again and suffered a severe fall that left him with a large gash in his head. 

On March 13, he was eligible for long-term care and days later was accepted to a home that wasn't one of his top choices, Moir said. 

She added that since the location wasn't convenient for the family, they decided to turn it down. She said they were also given assurances by their preferred long-term care home that a bed would soon be available.  

Moir said they knew moving her father-in-law twice would be hard on him. 

Another key concern for Moir was if her father-in-law went into a long-term care home they didn't want, he would no longer be considered an urgent priority for the one he wanted. 

But once they declined the bed on March 16, Moir said, the doctor officially discharged her father-in-law from hospital and the family was told there would be a daily fee.