Bill 135 means privatization,
precarity, and profit-mongering
On June 28, 2024, Bill 135 – The Convenient Care at Home Act will come into force. The amalgamation of all 14 LHINS and all agencies coordinating care will be under a new superagency called Health atHome.
Health atHome will be a mega-agency tasked with overseeing the entire province’s home care offerings.
Health atHome replaces all functions of the LHINs and Home and Community Care Support Services. Care assessments, care coordination, and provision of care are now all provided under this new regime.
This Bill further erodes public provision of care towards for-profit service providers who already make up the bulk of home care in the province. These services will be hived off from public oversight to OHTs and the new superagency without local oversight.
There are anticipated issues with agencies also being in charge of assessment of care, coordination of care, provision of care, and oversight of care. Providers who have existing contracts will also find themselves competing in jurisdictions and areas they were not formerly contracted to do work, reducing the certainty of workers where they work and can be assigned shifts. Many questions remain unanswered how this changeover will happen.
Increased privatization and lack of oversight are not the answer.
The health care staffing crisis will not be solved by another high-level reorganization.
