5 promises for seniors in 2018 Ontario budget

By Christine Chubb

The Ontario Liberals have made promises for seniors within the 2018 budget. Here are the top five:

1) The Seniors’ Health Home Program will provide a benefit of up to $750 annually for eligible households led by seniors 75 and over to help them live independently and offset the cost of maintaining their home.

2) More access to home and community health care services, including 2.8 million more hours of personal support with 284,000 more nursing visits. The $650-million investment will be made over three years.

3) Expanding Pharmacare with the OHIP+ program, prescription drugs will now be free for everyone 65 and over. The Ontario Drug Benefit annual deductible and copay will be eliminated – saving the average Ontario senior $240 annually.

4) The province is creating 30,000 new long-term care beds over the next 10 years –- adding 5,000 new beds by 2022.

5) The government is investing $300 million over three years starting with $50 million in 2018–19 to hire registered nurses in long‐term care homes and setting a goal of increasing the provincial average to four hours of daily care per resident by 2022.

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