This would require at least a doubling of the GST rate because higher tax rates tend to be associated with more tax avoidance (Finances of the Nation, n.d.).3 The second option is to maintain the current level of public LTC funding and live with the consequences: let LTC waiting lists grow and those in need of care and their families fill the gaps in funding however they can. [...] One indicator of this is the gap between the number of publicly financed LTC beds available and the number of people in need of an LTC place — and the resulting long wait times. [...] The absence of asset tests in the current system of LTC financing serves largely to protect the inheritances of the children of those currently receiving care — and perpetuates income inequality over time. [...] Government as payer of last resort The United States (prior to the expansion of Medicaid coverage under the 2010 Afford- able Care Act) was the best example of the government as the payer-of-last-resort model of nursing-home financing, although elements of this model are also found in the United Kingdom. [...] system — unless the bulk of the couple’s financial assets are in the name of the spouse in need of care.
- Pages
- 44
- Published in
- Canada
