Revised Attendant Care Hourly Rate Guideline in effect April 14, 2018

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has released a revised Attendant Care Hourly Rate Guideline, which comes into effect April 14, 2018. This Guideline, approved by the Superintendent for use in connection with the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule – Effective September 1, 2010 (SABS), replaces the previously issued guideline. The Guideline addresses the calculation of the monthly benefit.

Calculation of Monthly Benefit

The Attendant Care Hourly Rate Guideline has been revised to require that the maximum hourly rates set out in the guideline be used with the Assessment of Attendant Care Needs (Form 1) to calculate the monthly attendant care benefit in accordance with section 19 (2) of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule – Effective September 1, 2010 (SABS).

The Guideline requires that insurers use the maximum hourly rate for each category (as relayed in the chart in the Guideline) to calculate the total monthly benefit and then pay the monthly total to the claimant. This addresses a concern that OSOT raised to the Financial Services Commission that the previous guideline could be interpreted to strictly apply the maximum hourly rates as the maximum payable for attendant care services, rather than using the hourly rates to calculate a monthly benefit as was originally intended.

Implications for Occupational Therapists

Occupational therapists and nurses are authorized to complete the Assessment of Attendant Care Needs, Form 1.  Further to identifying the future needs for attendant care, the Form 1 to calculate the monthly attendant care allowance for Part 1, 2 and 3. The sum of all three parts will be the Total Assessed Monthly Attendant Care Benefit.  The Attendant Care Hourly Rate Guideline is an important piece of the determination of attendant care benefits in the auto insurance system.