ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Dear Shirley,
Thank you for your letter. The needs of seniors are important to our party and our government, and we have taken significant steps to try to address those needs.
With respect to the items you listed in your letter, there are a number of ways our government can help based on a given person’s personal set of circumstances.
Our Department of Advanced Education and Skills provides assistance to many seniors to meet specific needs you listed. To be eligible, a person must complete an application within the Income Support program to confirm eligibility for support.
In addition, people who are over 65 years of age and over, and who are in receipt of a subsidy for long-term care or community support services through the regional health authorities, are eligible for assistance for a hearing aid through the Provincial Hearing Aid Program.
To find out more about either of these supports, I encourage you to call the Department of Advanced Education and Skills at (709) 729-2480 or the Department of Health and Community Services at (709) 729-4984.
But our government’s supports for seniors go far deeper and broader than that. In Budget 2019 we put $123 million toward our NL Income Supplement and NL Seniors’ Benefit. That would provide up to $1,300 annually to adults aged 65 and older, of which, approximately 70 per cent of single beneficiaries are women.
We also created the Newfoundland and Labrador Income Supplement that supports low income seniors, individuals, families, and persons with disabilities. Through the Income Supplement, qualifying families are eligible to receive upwards of $650 per year, with an additional $200 for each child. In 2018, approximately 47,000 seniors and their families received the Seniors’ Benefit and approximately 154,000 families received the Income Supplement.
In addition, our Liberal government has developed a rate management plan that will protect your pocketbook, and ensure your cost of living won’t go up because of the cost of Muskrat Falls. Our plan ensures seniors have more money to spend for the essentials that they deserve.
We look forward to continuing this important work after the election, which will include engaging with our province’s first Seniors Advocate – a role we created. We will also continue working closely with Seniors NL and other 50+ organizations throughout the province. I hope this answers your question, and I encourage you to contact me again if you have any other concerns.
Sincerely,
Premier Dwight Ball
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