Apply for Long-Term Care Rate Reduction in Saskatchewan

When the Assessed Rate Does Not Reflect Reality

The monthly resident charge for Saskatchewan Special-Care Homes is calculated from Line 15000 of the prior year's tax return. In most cases, last year's income is a reasonable proxy for this year's. But life changes fast when a parent enters care, and the tax return can become dangerously outdated.

A spouse dies and their pension income disappears. An investment account is closed. A workplace pension is reduced. In any of these scenarios, your parent may be paying a resident charge based on income they no longer have — and the system will not adjust automatically.

The Annual Rate Reduction: Side B

The most common path to a lower rate is the annual recalculation. Each year by September, the resident (or their representative) must submit the Side B Annual Consent Form along with updated income documentation from CRA.

If your parent's income dropped since the previous year's assessment — because of retirement, a pension reduction, or any other income change that shows up on the new tax return — the recalculated rate will reflect the lower figure.

The Side B form and supporting documents go to the facility's administrative office, which forwards them to the Ministry of Health's Income Assessment Operations Unit. The unit processes the updated income information and issues the formal rate determination.

Missing the September deadline means the Ministry keeps billing at the current rate — or worse, defaults to the maximum $3,428 if no current income data is on file.

Mid-Year Financial Hardship Review

You do not have to wait for September. If a significant income change happens mid-year, you can request an immediate financial reassessment by contacting the Income Assessment Operations Unit directly:

Phone: 1-800-667-4884 Mailing address: Drug Plan and Extended Benefits Branch, 3475 Albert Street, Regina, SK

Send a written request explaining the income change, along with documentation: a death certificate (if a spouse died), a pension termination letter, updated bank statements, or any other evidence that the current income is substantially lower than what Line 15000 showed.

The Ministry will review the resident charge using the documented income change. Ask the Income Assessment Operations Unit when any adjusted rate will take effect and how any difference will be applied.

Requesting a Review of a Clinical or Financial Determination

If you believe the assessed rate is incorrect — the income data is wrong, the Optional Designation was not applied, or the formula was misapplied — request a formal review.

For financial determinations, submit a written request to the Income Assessment Operations Unit. Include a clear statement of what you believe is wrong, your parent's income documentation, and copies of any forms already filed (Side A, Side B, Optional Designation).

For clinical determinations — such as CPAS denying eligibility for public long-term care placement — the appeal is submitted to the Saskatchewan Health Authority. The SHA is legally required to respond in writing within 60 days.

The research materials specify a 60-day written-response deadline for clinical appeals. For a financial issue, ask the Income Assessment Operations Unit how any adjustment will be applied.

Three Situations That May Support a Rate Reduction

1. Spousal death during the assessment year. The surviving resident loses the deceased spouse's income, but the combined-income assessment may not update until the next annual cycle. File for an immediate financial review and document the change in income.

2. Optional Designation not filed at admission. If the couple's incomes were combined under the default 50/50 split and nobody filed form HE593, file the Optional Designation so the Ministry can assess whether the resident's charge should be recalculated using the resident's individual income.

3. Income drop from retirement or pension changes. A parent who retired mid-year has a tax return showing six months of employment income that no longer exists. Request a financial review and provide documentation of the current income change.

The Saskatchewan Long-Term Care Costs & Subsidies Guide includes the complete appeal process with template letters for both financial and clinical determinations, the exact forms needed for each scenario, and a timeline tracker for every deadline in the reassessment cycle.

See more Saskatchewan guides →