For the second time in less than a year, P.E.I. is increasing the amount it charges people who live in government-run seniors’ care homes but aren’t covered by its subsidy program.
On July 1, those residents will start paying $114.67 per day for room and board. That’s 24 per cent higher than the $92.19 daily rate they were paying back in September, before the first of two increases.
For residents like 97-year-old Norman MacNeill, the two increases add up to an extra $700 per month, pushing accommodation fees up to about $3,550 monthly.
“These increases have just kind of been out of the blue, without much of an explanation, and it’s really driving up his costs substantially,” MacNeill’s son Ron said in an interview.
He had a challenge for the province: “Show me how the rates are determined or calculated. What index is being used to increase the rates?”
Back in 2023, the province told CBC News that about 85 per cent of residents at government-run care homes are covered by the LTC subsidization program and aren’t affected by any rate changes. That means 15 per cent of residents must pay their full costs themselves.
According to the province’s website, someone with an annual income of less than $43,500 will qualify for the subsidy. Ron MacNeill said his father’s pension puts him just above that threshold.
The province pays medical costs for all residents.
