VAC minister's announcement ....

[krustyrl]

Interesting...if the NVC is going to be challenged via a Class Action lawsuit, I'd be curious to see what happens to those (myself included) who in fact had the NVC crammed down our throats.?

 

[Words_Twice]

You can be proactive. There are people out there fighting to have the NVC shitecanned. Help them, and you help yourself.

 

[dogger1936]

You can be proactive. There are people out there fighting to have the NVC shitecanned. Help them, and you help yourself.

Couldnt agree more with you. Get involved in advocacy. As far as I'm concerned it's given me hope; which is much more than I had before.

Sometimes you have to fight who once paid you.

 

[Words_Twice]

I challenge every one out there who is in receipt of a disability award under the NVC to contribute $50 to the Equitas Society. I have (and more), and if you check out their website, they are fighting for YOU. Afghan vet, reservist who rolled a truck, Cold War warrior (me), and anyone else who sustained an injury in the service of our nation post 2006. Check out the directors, and you will see that there is a large group of very talented and capable individuals who are fighting for YOU! Just do it.

 

[Rifleman62]

Media Advisory

June 8, 2012
Minister Steven Blaney to Address Royal Canadian Legion Delegates and Make an Important Announcement

Halifax — The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, will deliver the keynote address and make an important announcement at the Royal Canadian Legion’s 44th Dominion Command Biennial Convention.

Location: Convention Floor, Halifax Metro Centre
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Date: Monday, June 11, 2012

Time: 9:30 a.m.

Media should arrive at the Argyle Street entrance to the World Trade and Convention Centre no later than 9:15 a.m. and report to the media desk to gain access to the Convention Floor for the address.

 

[armyvern]

Hmmm, we have a few site members attending the Biennial Convention in Nova Scotia ... maybe they can (scoop) tweet us if this announcement is actual required movement forward by VAC ...

 

[Jimmy_D]

Reproduced under the usual caveats: http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/department/press/viewrelease/1455

News Release
June 11, 2012

Harper Government Continues to Cut Red Tape for Veterans and their Families
Related Information:
Photo Gallery




Halifax — The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, today announced new measures as part of the “Cutting Red Tape for Veterans” initiative to improve service to Veterans, Canadian Forces members and their families. With the new measures, Veterans will no longer have to submit receipts to receive the financial support they need to cover travel expenses incurred for medical appointments.

“Our Government is listening closely to the concerns of Veterans, and this is another example of how we are taking concrete action to improve the services we provide,” said Minister Blaney. “This simple change in our process eliminates cumbersome paperwork for more than 18,000 Veterans and puts their money into their hands faster.”

In fiscal year 2011-2012, Veterans Affairs Canada paid approximately $18 million to Veterans for health-related travel expenses. Each month, the Department processes approximately 5,500 health-related travel claims with an average reimbursement of $274. Under the old system, Veterans had to mail or drop off their receipts for the cost of travelling for treatment or medical assessments. Effective immediately, Veterans will no longer need to submit receipts with their travel claim.

“Our Government has heard our Veterans loud and clear, and we are delivering by providing them with the hassle-free service that they have asked for,” said Minister Blaney. “Our Government believes that our Veterans have the right to access the benefits and services they deserve more quickly and with fewer barriers.”

“Cutting red tape surrounding health related travel is a great initiative and will make claims easier to manage for the Veterans community,” said Ray Kokkonen, National President of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association. “Anyone who travels to medical appointments will benefit.”

“Any change or improvement that makes the process easier for Veterans is great! We look forward to seeing more changes through this program in the future,” said Pat Varga, Dominion President of the Royal Canadian Legion.

The Minister made the announcement today in Halifax during a speech addressing 1,500 delegates of the 44th Dominion Convention of the Royal Canadian Legion. In addition to the measures announced today, Veterans Affairs Canada has already taken several steps in its “Cutting Red Tape for Veterans” initiative. These include reducing the paperwork and wait times for Veterans, using plain-language in its letters to Veterans, and moving to up-front payments to Veterans for certain elements of the Veterans Independence Program.

Over the coming months, our Government will continue to introduce more service improvements as part of “Cutting Red Tape for Veterans” initiative.

For more information on programs and services at Veterans Affairs Canada visit

 

[GAP]

This is nothing more than a PR campaign...a little here, a little there, people will think the problems have gone away, meanwhile they have done nothing substantive.... :

 

[Jimmy_D]

That's all I got out of it as well. So still waiting for promising news, but I do not expect to see it until the lawsuit is further along its way.

 

[dogger1936]

Not handing in receipts after attending a medical appointment booked by VAC makes sense. It cuts down on the office workload hunting down receipts from people; when you already know they went to the appointment.

Not big news, but hopefully it will cut down on the work of the case managers in VAC.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Not handing in receipts after attending a medical appointment booked by VAC makes sense. It cuts down on the office workload hunting down receipts from people; when you already know they went to the appointment.

True, it will reduce paperwork being handled by both clients and VAC staff, but this appears to fix only one part of the system - here's another issue linked to paying for travel to/from appointments ....

.... The 85-year-old veteran had turned to his doctor after noticing an irregular "clicking" noise in his heartbeat. To help with the diagnosis, Wharton was given strict orders to check his blood pressure twice a day for a month.

But when the senior requested a home blood pressure monitor from Veterans Affairs, he was surprised to learn that they were not authorized to cover the cost of the $135 machine. Instead, he was told they could only reimburse his taxi fare to and from his doctor's clinic, the location of the nearest blood pressure monitor, twice a day.

This news left the veteran scratching his head. He knew that the cost of taxi rides for a month would have the department paying out more than $600 -- over four times the cost of the monitor.

"It's ridiculous," Wharton said. "Quite frankly, it's the principle of the thing - that the government will pay so much more money for travel than for the machine."

The twice-daily taxi rides would have taken more tan two hours out of Wharton's schedule to complete a task that takes less than five minutes to perform at home. Additionally, the veteran suffers from balance problems, adding further difficulty to what would already be a significant regular trek.

So the veteran took matters into his own hands and bought his own top-of-the-line blood pressure machine -- for a grand total of $135.

If Wharton wanted to push to get the monitor covered, he was told to "appeal" the case. But with no confirmation as to when his claim would be reviewed, the process would prevent the senior from following his doctor's orders.

"I was able to solve the problem myself, but it still exists for other veterans," Wharton said. "What is this doing to other people?" ....

 

[the 48th regulator]

Not handing in receipts after attending a medical appointment booked by VAC makes sense. It cuts down on the office workload hunting down receipts from people; when you already know they went to the appointment.

Not big news, but hopefully it will cut down on the work of the case managers in VAC.

True,

However, most vets have their own GP, and specialists, that book the appoinments, not VAC.  I would like to know how VAC plans on cutting down the redtape involved with those clients??

Again, smkoe and mirrors.  Still waiting for them to finallize how the VIP redtape is being reduced, and that was announced how long ago?

pfft.

 

[maniac]

My sources tell me that this applies only to "B" Clients.  That part was not announced by the Minister.  He's left that to the poor front line worker making it look like they've divided the veterans into separate groups, it could be quite a sh*t show for a while.  Hope I'm wrong but it came from a VAC CM.

 

[The Bread Guy]

My sources tell me that this applies only to "B" Clients.  That part was not announced by the Minister.  He's left that to the poor front line worker making it look like they've divided the veterans into separate groups, it could be quite a **** show for a while.  Hope I'm wrong but it came from a VAC CM.

Ouch!

 

[dogger1936]

What would a B client be? I am unfamiliar with the term.

 

[the 48th regulator]

What would a B client be? I am unfamiliar with the term.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/services/treatment-benefits/tb-health-card

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/services/identcard/eligib

 

[dogger1936]

:facepalm:

So much for cutting that red tape it appears!

Thanks for the info.

 

[maniac]

B Client = Injured SDA/SDO + VIP

SDO/SDA injured veteran remains an A Client if they don't have VIP.

A Client is always an A Client based on a non SDO/SDA injury even with VIP.

 

[LAWN DART]

This whole thing sounds like more smoke and mirrors to me, another Band-Aid on the greater problem and just more propaganda to make the civvies think that the government actually truly cares about our wellbeing. It just seems to me that they (the government) is just putting on a cool light show for the general public to distract them while quietly doing other stuff on the side lines.

 

[CountDC]

figures - they would spend a fortune on taxis rather than buy the monitors.  Too make it even better you can get them for a lot less than $135.  The one I have was $65 and I have seen them for down around $50.  Great system.

This move is a lot of smoke and mirrors that very few will benefit from.  I would wager the only one that really will is the clerk at the vac getting an extra 2 minutes to enjoy their coffee.