Ontario group to challenge $400/day penalty for seniors who stay in hospital instead of moving to LTC

Public health advocates are launching a charter challenge against a new Ontario law that requires hospitals to charge elderly patients $400 per day if they refuse to move to a long-term care home against their will.

Bill 7, the More Beds Better Care Act, forces seniors who are waiting for space in a long-term care home to be temporarily transferred to another home not of their choosing.

If they refuse, they will recieve the penalty beginning on Sunday. In response, the Ontario Health Coalition is launching a charter challenge on Monday to probe whether the legislation violates rights or freedoms.

“Despite the title given to it by the Ford government, the Act neither provides more beds nor better care,” an Ontario Health Coalition Friday afternoon release reads.

“In Southern Ontario patients will be transferred up to 70 km away. In Northern Ontario, patients can be transferred up to 150 km away, or if there are no beds available, any distance.”

In September, Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra said the bill grants “the maximum amount of flexibility” for hospital patients who want to transition into long-term care.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones said at the time that the $400 charge would be a strong incentive for families to “have those challenging conversations.”

“The bottom line is acute care hospital beds need to be for acute care patients,” she said.