Can you afford to pay $7,000 to $12,000 for Long Term Care?

If so, this is what you can expect to pay for a private nursing home should 24/7 care be needed. A second option is to hire live-in caregivers but this could cost even more.

If not, family caregivers tend to turn to Island Health under the false assumption that long-term care (LTC) is part of our universal medicare system and that the government somehow “owes” us a LTC bed when we can no longer “age in place”.

Island Health does offer subsidized personal care services delivered in the community such as home support, assisted living and long-term care. These options are fee-based and are meant to “compliment and supplement” but not “replace” what families are doing for themselves.

Fortunately, subsidized LTC fees are self-affording: calculated as 80% of After-Tax Net Income. 2024 monthly fees (based on the 2022 tax return) range from $1,417.00 to $3,974.10.

Unfortunately, LTC wait times are up to 2 years long and there are only 28,000 subsidized care beds in the entire province. BC now has 1,000,000 seniors 65 and older and is also home to the seven municipalities with the oldest populations in Canada: Qualicum Beach, Osoyoos, Sidney, Parksville, Southern Gulf Islands, Nanaimo Regional District, and Nanaimo.

So, with tax season just around the corner and slips are starting to arrive, careful thought should be given to how you should file 2023 tax returns. This will determine future care costs for anyone either currently in residential care, on a wait list, or could potentially need it in the near future.

Peggy Hoult is a Family Caregiver Coach offering guidance, information and support to families struggling to navigate the financial and administrative side of caregiving. She can offer tax filing strategies, provide assistance to couples experiencing an ”Involuntary Separation” and also arrange early rate reductions for LTC care fees.

If you are interested in reducing stress and paying less for care, please email Peggy to arrange a review of your 2022 tax returns before filing the 2023 tax return.       info@peggyhoult.com