The South Estonia Care Center (Lõuna-Eesti Hooldekeskus) operates six care homes with 830 service places and 350 employees. As in most care homes, prices there were raised at the beginning of April by €150, bringing the new monthly fee per place to €1,750.

Calculations at the center show that over the past five years, food costs have increased 1.6 times, electricity costs 1.8 times and the cost of care supplies as much as 2.6 times. During this period, continuous efforts have also been made to raise the wages of care workers. Despite this, it remains one of the lower-paid professions.

"Over a five-year period, for comparison, our wages have also increased 1.6 times. Nevertheless, they are still €400 below today's Estonian average gross salary. To raise our employees' wages to the level of the Estonian average gross salary, the care home fee would immediately need to be increased by another €300," said Vambola Sipelgas, head of the South Estonia Care Center.

New staffing requirements in place

The price increase is also being driven by a staffing requirement entering into force on July 1, according to which there must be at least one employee on duty around the clock for every 17 residents. This means additional staff must be hired, increasing payroll costs. At the same time, the contribution of local governments to care costs varies greatly.

"People who live in poorer or more remote municipalities versus those who live in Tallinn or Tartu — the caps set by local governments are very different. The state should ensure that the limits paid for care home services are the same everywhere, because then people in Estonia would be treated equally," Sipelgas said.

When the care reform came into force, the main promise was that a care home place would be affordable with a pension. The law clearly states that the state together with local governments covers the care costs — that is, labor and work equipment — while the individual pays for accommodation and meals. Local governments were given free rein to set a cap on the care costs that their municipality or city will pay on behalf of a person.

Kanepi municipality has six care homes, three of which are operated by the municipality itself. On average, about 100 people in the municipality are receiving care services. The cap set by the municipality for care costs is €630. The municipality's head of social work notes that in most care homes this amount does not cover actual care costs.

Actual costs higher than the allocated funds

"As of May 1, the fee at our own care home will also increase, and as a result the cap is now lower than our actual care costs. Starting May 1, the care cost at our municipal care home will be €700, and so far we have not discussed raising the cap. It may happen, however, that we will still have to revisit this figure during this year," said Terje Lihtsa, head of the Kanepi municipal social department.

The average cap on care costs set by local governments is €617, while the average care cost in care homes last year was €751.

Nursing home representatives emphasize that the state should ensure more uniform limits to avoid unequal treatment of Estonian residents based on their place of residence. The current system, where prices rise faster than subsidies and pensions, is not sustainable in the long term.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!