P.E.I. Green Party calls for oversight as province remains outlier on long-term care rate controls

Prince Edward Island is one of the only provinces that does not control rate increases in public or private long-term care homes, and the province's Green Party is calling for that to change.

Green Party Leader Matt MacFarlane raised the issue during question period in the P.E.I. Legislature Tuesday, saying seniors have seen a 38 per cent rate hike in the last two years.

While the government controls rents on the Island through the Island Regulatory Appeals Commission, there are no such protections for seniors in long-term care homes.

"Any other Islander who rents their home is provided strict rate protections under the Residential Tenancy Act," MacFarlane said during question period.

"When will you finally commit to a full review and implement fair, transparent and affordable long-term care rates for Islanders?" MacFarlane asked P.E.I.'s minister of health and wellness, Mark McLane.

In response, McLane brought up "significant" investments government has made into long-term care, such as wage parity for staff in public and private homes, as well as bringing allied health professionals into homes to provide services like physiotherapy for seniors.

"I would agree those costs are expensive. We have held costs for a couple years at a time," he said. "There are significant, increasing costs to maintain our seniors homes, but we'll continue to make those investments."

A parliamentary research report found that "Prince Edward Island seems to be an outlier in the sense that it imposes no consistent controls over the frequency or amount of fee increases in its jurisdiction, either public or private."

"It's quite literally hundreds of dollars a month extra that Islanders would need to come up with again with as little as a month's notice," MacFarlane told reporters after question period.

"It's heartbreaking for families... and it's just not a sustainable way to operate the long-term care system in this province."

McLane told CBC News that while government does try to hold rates as low as possible, long-term care homes are seeing unprecedented increases.

"The cost to operate our facilities has gone up exponentially over the last few years. Wages, fuel, food, so we've seen some increases because of that," he said.

"We try to hold off as best we can for those price increases."

McLane noted not every resident is paying the full rate. About 80 per cent of seniors have their rates subsidized, based on income — leaving 20 per cent who pay out of pocket and are most affected by the rate increases.