Significant Progress
Way Forward Commitment:
Our Government will streamline the financial assessment process for community support services and residential long-term care services to make the application and eligibility process more transparent and client-friendly. Currently the processes are resource intensive with multiple assessment tools to determine the amount, if any, a client must contribute towards the cost of these services. The processes are also burdensome, invasive and often not easily understood by the client. As such, our Government will implement streamlined processes, incorporating a single, income-based, financial assessment tool which will improve Regional Health Authority efficiencies and make the application and financial assessment processes easier for clients. By March 31, 2018, our Government will have streamlined administrative processes for financial assessment.
What We’ve Accomplished:
- An extensive cross-jurisdictional scan has been completed by the Department of Health and Community Services, as well as consultations with the Regional Health Authorities, to inform the proposed changes to the current financial assessment process.
- Starting November 1, 2018, people applying for long-term care and community supports no longer have to provide proof of their liquid assets.
- As of February 1, 2019, the needs test for specific programs has been eliminated and income testing is being used in all long-term care and community support services offered by the regional health authorities. Eligibility will be determined through one single test, the Income Test.
- Some clients already in the long-term care and community support service system may have a higher contribution when they go through the Income Test. To help minimize the impact on those clients, they will be grandfathered while in the current program and will not see an increase in their personal contribution until they receive services from another program area.
- A financial hardship policy is available for both new and existing clients. This will allow the health authorities to have some flexibility to adjust or waive the client contribution when clients show that significant financial hardship would occur due to the contribution calculated with the income test.
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