Ontario's Health Minister Deb Matthews made a house call with a family physician Sunday afternoon to announce a proposed program that will offer patients suffering from mobility issues or severe illnesses at-home care.

The $60-million a year program, which would be introduced if the Liberals are elected on Oct. 6, is part of the McGuinty government's plan to redesign "the primary care system and home care system."

According to a statement released Sunday, the program would reduce visits to the hospital and relieve pressure on long-term care facilities.

It will also include telephone and online consultation services from a variety of health professionals such as nurses and occupational therapists.

"House calls are coming back to Ontario so anyone who has difficulty getting appointments will be cared for right in their homes," Matthews said from the home of 83-year-old Barbara Burns in Toronto.

Burns, who has difficulty travelling to visit her family doctor, is part of an aging population some experts fear will financially stress Canada's medicare system.

According to figures released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information in 2010, Canadians over the age of 65 are responsible for close to 44 per cent of all health-care dollars spent by provincial and territorial governments. By comparison, seniors account for less than 14 per cent of the overall Canadian population.

This purported financial burden was echoed by the Ontario Liberal party, which said in a release that long-term care presently costs $150 a day per patient and $1,000 a day per patient in hospital.

In advance of Matthews' announcement on Sunday, the Ontario's Progressive Conservative party said in a release that "Ontario families will not be fooled."

They said that while Premier Dalton McGuinty has spent $1.1 billion on a strategy to give patients better at-home care, "Ontario families know it's been nothing but a spectacular failure."

In an article published in 2010 on the CIHI's website, the organization's vice president of programs said that while healthcare spending is highest on seniors, the impact of population aging over time is minimal.

"While it is true that care is costlier for people who are 65 and older, we have not seen a rise in the proportion we spend on seniors," Jean-Marie Berthelot said.