Bay elderly facing rise in rest home charges

Bay rest homes are raising charges to residents despite objections from the local health board.
Robert Lee, a spokesperson for the Tauranga Aged Care Providers Action Collective, said rest homes across the Bay were looking at ways to increase their fees while meeting the requirements of their contracts with the Bay of Plenty District Health Board.
"They have no choice," Mr Lee said.
"If Government funding falls short there is nothing they can do except ask clients to bridge the gap. It is a matter of fact that rest homes throughout the Bay of Plenty will be increasing their fees in the near future if they have not already done so."
At the end of last year the Government announced an $18million funding increase for the aged care sector to ease cost pressure. However, rest home operators in the Western Bay, which have a total of 1500 residents, have complained that this equalled just a 3 per cent rise and was too little, too late.
Tauranga's Cedar Manor Lifecare Estate Facility Manager, James Mollison, said the rest home notified residents earlier this month of fee increases effective immediately for new residents and from April 1 for existing clients.
The fee increases were for rooms that had more facilities than required by the DHB's minimum requirements, said Mr Mollison.
He said health board paperwork clearly showed that the services it paid for did not cover larger rooms or those with ensuites, for example.
Cedar Manor had worked hard to provide comfortable rooms and ensuites at considerable cost.
But Mr Mollison said it could no longer afford to pay for all this, with upgrades repairs and maintenance work, so it was introducing a premium room fee of an extra $2.83 a day.
Although the increases would lift fees above levels specified by the Government, Mr Mollison said the home felt it had no option.
Since 1997, the rate paid by the Government has increased by 2.1 per cent to current levels. During this time, inflation had increased 21 per cent and "the Government has insisted we provide greater levels of care and service than ever before".
Oakland Health Rehabilitation and Aged Care was also investigating how it could raise charges.
Clinical services manager Marja O'Connor said: "We are looking at charging higher fees because desperate times call for desperate measures."
Most costs, such as power, food and staffing, were fixed and could not be reduced to save money.
The Bay of Plenty Times has heard of three other rest homes that are looking at raising prices.
The district health board said it was aware that some providers of residential care were charging above the prices agreed in the Aged Residential Care contract.