The province will raise rates for most seniors in residential care to generate an extra $54 million a year of revenue.

Health Minister Kevin Falcon said the new rate structure will be more equitable, delivering a rate cut for the 25 per cent of seniors in care with the lowest incomes.

But the other 75 per cent face significant hikes, effective January.

A senior with a before-tax income of $22,000 a year will pay $1,392 a month, up $163 from $1,229 now. A senior in the low-income category — earning $14,034 a year — will pay $894 a month, a $46 cut from $940 now.

“The new residential care rate structure will better protect low-income residential care clients,” Falcon said. “It’s fair and it’s the right thing to do.”

Under the new system, all seniors are charged a flat rate of 80 per cent of after-tax income for room and board costs.

He said there are hardship provisions to ensure no senior needing residential care is turned away, adding the new formula means all seniors are left with at least $275 per month for personal expenses.

The extra money raised must go to directly improve care, Falcon said.

But NDP health critic Adrian Dix noted the increase works out to nearly $2,000 a year for the bulk of seniors in government-subsidized care.

“It’s a massive increase,” Dix said. “If you’re making $22,000 a year, what Kevin Falcon is saying is you’re rich and he’s going to charge you $2,000 a year more.”

Dix called it another in a series of financial hits to seniors, ranging from the HST to higher Pharmacare fees.

Penticton Coun. Gary Litke agrees with Dix’s assessment, pointing out that in a city the size of Penticton the low-income cutoff (or poverty line) was set by Statistics Canada in 2007 at $18,659.

“So, we are talking about people who are barely keeping their nose above the poverty line,” said Litke, noting that seniors make up roughly 42 per cent of Penticton’s population.

“We are talking about seniors who are on fixed incomes. They don’t have the luxury of going out and getting a part-time job or increasing their income to compensate for this loss in their disposable income. They’ve just got to adjust their lifestyle, whether that means eating more poorly or having less recreation or not buying the warm clothes they need,” he said.

Litke, who served on the South Okanagan Seniors Wellness Society board, took issue with the hardship formula, questioning why the disposable income minimum was set at only $275 per month for personal expenses.

He also argued that the new rate increases are particularly inappropriate considering the government’s tax concessions for banks, oil companies and private power producers.

“What is going on with people’s priorities that we think we can continually go to those who can least afford it and expect them to pay the lion’s share of the expenses for keeping this community and this society running, and those that have the money continually get more breaks,” said Litke. “And now we are going to raise rates on seniors, unbelievable.”

With files from Jeff Nagel.