HSE denies claims over hike in public nursing home fees

THE HSE has denied it is forcing future public nursing home residents to pay almost 20 times more for their care than those in the system, after a leading lobby group said any possibility of the move was “unjustifiable”.

Reports yesterday warned that from this week elderly residents in public nursing homes will see the cost of their care rise from €153.25 a week to as much as €3,182. In addition, it has been claimed that elderly public nursing home residents who do not sign up to the Government’s Fair Deal nursing home scheme may have to pay between €1,000 and €3,000 for their care.

However, a HSE spokesperson insisted the increase had been overstated. “The figures used compare a person’s contribution to the cost of their care in a public home under the old long-stay charges regulations with the actual overall cost of long-term care in nursing homes. These figures have been published for the first time by the HSE as part of the nursing home support scheme which came into operation earlier this week.

“Under the new nursing home support scheme individuals approved for the scheme will in fact pay a contribution of 80% of their assessed weekly income and 5% of the assessed weekly value of their assets, towards the cost of their care.

“The claim that new charges will be 20 times higher than before does not reflect the payments/contribution to cost of care that will be paid by individuals under the new scheme.

“The charges referred to are not in fact charged to the individual applicant, rather they are the actual cost of care.”

The comment came after Age Action Ireland spokesperson Gerard Scully warned that any major increase in nursing home costs would place vulnerable elderly people in jeopardy.

The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament has heavily criticised reports of the increase, stating it highlighted flaws in the Fair Deal scheme.

“Will these charges push older people and their families into choosing private rather than public facilities,” said chief executive Mairead Hayes. “This scheme was meant to provide people with a choice between public and private facilities, so they would no longer be pushed in any direction. However, it looks like many older people will not have a choice and will be forced into private facilities.”