Caregiver grant program promised before election 'a lot of work' to set up, says health minister

The P.E.I. government says it's been harder than anticipated to develop a new program to provide caregiver grants to allow Islanders to age at home.

Dennis King's Progressive Conservatives promised the measure during the spring election campaign, but still have not determined what the criteria will be.

According to their election platform, the program will offer grants of up to $1,500 per month "to support families who choose to keep their loved ones at home longer instead of going to community care."

The platform earmarked $5.2 million for the program during the current fiscal year, making it one of the more expensive commitments the P.C.s made during the campaign. It ranks seventh on that list.

"This legislature passed a budget line of $5.2 million for the program, but as far as I know, not one Island senior or person living with a disability has benefitted from it," interim Green leader Karla Bernard noted during question period Friday.

Health Minister Mark McLane told the house only one other province has a similar program, "so obviously we have to create this from scratch. There is a lot of work in order to stand this program up."

Later he told reporters the program "won't be broad-based to start," but will be launched on a smaller scale and potentially ramp up from there.

"It'll be a laddering process. I think we need to start with a small number, understand the program, how we deliver it, and then maybe expand the criteria over time."

As an example of how the program might be applied at rollout, McLane suggested it could be used to offset costs to provide care for someone who "may have a disease like MS [multiple sclerosis] or ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] and has mobility issues, maybe challenges to eat, but they're still fairly comfortable in their own home."

Islanders [are] reaching out to me on a very regular basis about this program. They are desperate for it.— Interim Green leader Karla Bernard

For years, P.E.I. has been dealing with bottlenecks in its long-term care and hospital systems, as people otherwise eligible to be discharged had to wait there for a spot to open up in a care home, taking a bed that could otherwise go to a patient who needed to be admitted. 

The caregiver grant program is meant to help alleviate some of that pressure.

McLane said an advisory group has been developing eligibility criteria, considering what expenses could be covered and how the program might integrate with other support programs.

He said government still plans to roll out the program before the end of the fiscal year, possibly in January 2024.

As a testament to the level of public interest in the program, McLane said he's getting pressure to launch it not just from the opposition, but from within his own P.C. caucus.

Bernard said she has "Islanders reaching out to me on a very regular basis about this program. They are desperate for it. They could really benefit from it, but like most things with this government, there are few details and very little follow-through."