A New Brunswick cabinet minister says she’s “all ears” for a better idea after coming under fire for a proposed fee hike for nursing home residents.
Social Development Minister Cathy Rogers was on the defensive again Thursday over a plan to calculate nursing home fees not only on income, but based on savings and investments too.
Just over a week since the N.B. provincial budget was delivered, Rogers insists the plan is not firm and could still change.
“Those who can afford to pay a little more will, but those who cannot afford it will not have to,” Rogers said.
Details of the plan have yet to be presented, spurring a barrage of criticism and accusations of fearmongering.
“We’re not ready to roll out with any policy right now. We were hoping to roll out with an updated formula later in the year,” Rogers said.
With specifics still fuzzy, Rogers said it’s been frustrating to see how the plan has been portrayed.
“We’re not going to take everything from seniors. Some fearmongering is happening as this is talked about,” Rogers said.
Interim PC Leader Bruce Fitch says the Liberals created their own problems.
“I thought it was a little bit disingenuous of the minister today to say we’re causing the feat,” Fitch said.
“It’s the minister that came out, who said these words, and didn’t have the details to back it up,” he said.
Rogers says the policy for the new formula has not been developed yet.
“If I came to this budget having already prepared the formula and decided ahead of time what it was going to look like, people would be complaining, ‘how dare you do this without consulting us,’” Rogers said.
Rogers says she has meetings with stakeholders planned for next week.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore
