PEIA 105-year-old woman living in long-term care on Prince Edward Island has had her provincial financial support reinstated, and she’s being compensated for overpaying for her room, her daughter says. Verna Phillips was on the hook for extra $24K a year after missing income thresholdStephen Brun · CBC News · Posted: Oct 10, 2025 4:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoVerna Phillips, left, paid about $2,000 more than normal for her semi-private room in Summerside for three months after June Rigden, right, discovered that her mother no longer qualified for provincial assistance. (Submitted by June Rigden)A 105-year-old woman living in long-term care on Prince Edward Island has had her provincial financial support reinstated, and she’s being compensated for overpaying for her room, her daughter says. Verna Phillips has lived in her semi-private room in Summerside for about two and half years, during which time she paid about $4,600 a month for her accommodations. But for the past three months, she paid about $2,000 more than that after her daughter, June Rigden, discovered that Phillips no longer qualified for provincial assistance — she missed the qualification threshold by just $75 due to receiving slightly more income from her pensions.But Rigden told CBC News on Friday that her mother’s situation has now been rectified. “[We’re] very happy to hear that, and grateful for all the help folks gave us to try and find out what happened and how to fix it,” Rigden said. ‘Administrative discrepancy’Phillips’s family appealed the subsidy decision in late August, arguing the cost was too high and moving her would not be ideal. That appeal was unsuccessful.The following month, however, the province raised the income threshold.According to the P.E.I. government’s website, people with a net annual income of less than $44,250.40 may now qualify for a nursing home subsidy. Rigden said her mother now falls within that limit.The Department of Health and Wellness and Health P.E.I. said in a statement this week that an “administrative discrepancy related to the timing of the recent changes in accommodation rates” was to blame for Phillips’s overpayments.WATCH | Daughter of 105-year-old P.E.I. woman frustrated after mom loses long-term care subsidy:Daughter of 105-year-old P.E.I. woman frustrated after mom loses long-term care subsidyThe daughter of a 105-year-old P.E.I. woman living in long-term care is speaking out after her mother stopped qualifying for provincial financial support. She will now have to pay thousands of dollars more a month to stay in her nursing home. Sheehan Desjardins reports.Rigden said the province has reinstated her mother’s subsidy and will compensate her for the three months that she didn’t receive it. “The clarity could’ve been more forthcoming right away and I would have understood, and they might have even caught the mistake in their math,” she said. “I hope that it will help create clarity for… others, as well as myself and mom, so that this can be clearer to people who need help in their long-term care. “Now I can honestly have a sigh of relief and know that things are looking up again.”ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen Brun is the copy editor for digital news at CBC Prince Edward Island. A graduate of UPEI and Holland College, he has been a writer and editor for a number of newspapers and websites across Canada for nearly two decades. You can reach him at stephen.brun@cbc.ca.
105-year-old P.E.I. woman in long-term care has provincial financial assistance restored
