My guy has bv Fronto and Vascular and Ad and when they diagnosed him they advise us to register for LTC. We visited five places close to us and he chose which one he wanted to live in. It was his choice and turned out well. he loves it there and they take good care of him very well. He can be very nasty so I couldn't keep him at home.He refused to allow PSW's to care for him at home.
Have you looked at the places near you? You can take him with you if he can handle it or go on your own. I've had to teach the PSW's how to talk to him to keep him calming so far it is working well.
Jazzy - My husband is already in a long-term care facility. He was admitted in mid-November. They are able to handle any kind of behavioural problem that arise. He's adjusting to that environment.
Prior to that he was in a private residence for 5½ months, but was becoming too agressive for them to handle. So the private residence sent him for a psychiatric evaluation at the hospital. The psychiatrist determined he needed a change of environment - needed to be in long-term care. He was already on the waiting list but we didn't know how long the wait would be. He ended up staying in the hospital for 3 weeks because the private residence would not take him back unless he had one on one for 10 hours a day. My social worker managed to get the provincial government to pay for that. So he returned to the private residence, receiving the one on one & became a priority on the LTC waiting list because the government was paying for that service. He went into LTC 11 weeks later. So, his bad behaviour pushed him up on the list - he was only on the waiting list for about 9 months.
I misunderstood. I thought you had still had him at home. 9 months sure was a short wait. some of my group have been waiting for years. We have two great behavioural support homes here so if my guy get out of hand again he will have to go there but so far he is behaving quite well for bv fronto. He was pretty bad for a few years. I will never understand this disease. It's all over the place and up and downs.
Jazzy - Yes, 9 months is a short wait. I'm sure the only reason for that is because he became a priority. I'm not sure what the average wait time is here in Quebec (when not a priority). We moved here just over 5 years ago, so I'm not familiar with that. We lived in northern Ontario all our lives before moving here & I believe in our home town, the wait was approx. 1 year or so. Now, we live in a border town just across the river from Ottawa Ontario & about a year and a half ago, I was told by a worker from the Ottawa Alzheimer Society, the wait there at that time was 3 years. I know if varies from city to city.
I hope your husband keeps on behaving well. If he goes into a behavioural support home does he stay there permanently or would he eventually be moved to a long-term care facility? I don't imagine he'd go back home?
In Canada don't forget that you can deduct the full amount of AD nursing home costs from your income tax. The nursing home is required by federal law to give you an annual statement which has the amount deemed deductable but with AD, federally at least, it's 100%. If you need any help with that let me know.
Wolf - I received a statement from the private residence he was in for 5½ months & only a portion is eligible for income tax. You mention nursing home - do you mean long-term care facility? For 2017, he was in LTC for 6 weeks & as you know it's subsidized by the provincial government, so I did not get any papers regarding that. What did you get?
Nicky in BC I get a statement from the subsidized facility listing total amount I paid breaking it down for food prep housekeeping Attendent care etc and all are eligible as deductions.
Nicky, yes, I should have said long-term care facility. The amount is calculated by the facility and when it's long-term care it's pretty much all of it. It was also part of setting that up, that I got a form filled out registering the disability with revenue canada. I can't remember whether it was the nursing home or the doctor that filled that out.
There are two ways to use the disability deduction in Canada. One is the $10,000 related deduction and there is a second one which I used to claim the full amount and was able to split between us, although since you are doing both taxes, you could split income instead. My annual amount was in the low $20,000 range where of course we should try to use all of it. I can look up more detail for you if and when you like.
edit - provincially it could be different. in Ontario I was also able to deduct it there.
I recall now that in the first few years I forged Dianne's signature when I did her taxes. It was when I claimed the deductions for the LTC in the same way Rona said (except I never got a breakdown, just a single number within the LTC's annual statement), that revenue canada came back and demanded proof of disability. The doctor filled out the multi page form and signed it, and I sent it back to them, after which they allowed my filing.
I never used either of my POA's because nobody challenged me to produce them except in one instance. The DNR form I signed at the LTC where they asked if I would mind bringing in the health POA.
(DNR - do not resuscitate, POA - power of attorney, LTC - long term care)
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It's striking me how cruel it is that we go through all those things in such a state as we do. I was an emotional wreck when I had to decide that DNR and when I had to chase down what revenue canada demanded. There's nothing that can be done about that, but it is all cruel to the spouse who frankly is suffering enough.
Wolf - I never had to forge his signature. The income tax is done online, so unless they audited it, that was not a problem. I sent his POA to Service Canada last year & Revenue Canada has documents from a doctor stating his condition - however, Revenue Canada does not have his POA - they haven't requested it. I also sent his POA to our private health insurance - so I can sign any claim form or any correspondence. He has already signed for a DNR back when we did our legal papers. It's a bit different here in this province than in Ontario. We still have a Will (of course), but we also have a "Power of Attorney and Mandate in case of Inability" document, which names me as his mandatary. We had a POA when we lived in Ontario, but this mandate is extra. They are stricter in this province with POA.
Wolf - In one of your posts, you mention the facility is required by federal law to give an annual statement. Was you wife in a private facility or in a provincially subsidized one?
It was provincially subsidized. In Ontario the numbers are a bit different but using the LTC costs as a disability deduction in my personal exemptions applied to both federal and provincial taxes.
I believe the key is the documented disability. The way I understand it is that the costs are incurred strictly because the disability exists and are therefore directly attributable. This can be discussed with the LTC administrator in detail so that you understand what you can expect.
You can also track your forms in Quebec to check on provincial application. Never mind, I've found a lead for you. Scan down this link to the section 'Fees paid to full time residence in a nursing home' and note that it's information about line 376 in your provincial return you need to understand.
Nicki I am not sure what the answer is in terms of provincial or federal. I know that we applied for a disability pension from when she was diagnosed in 2012. I believe any costs incurred can be deducted including companion time, drugs, any other equipment needed plus costs of the facility. You claim the pension as income and then use all the expenses as deductions instead of claiming the standard medical deduction. Having said that we have a friend who is an accountant who does our taxes for us she has helped us weave our way through this. If you have a specific question I will ask her for you. She has lead us in the right direction and I think saved us a lot of money by knowing what is available and how to go about it. Ie I didn’t know that we could apply for the disability pension until she mentioned it then we backdated for a couple of years and got it.