Veterans Affairs Committee on June 5th, 2017

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Mr. Brassard, you have 10 seconds.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

I have five seconds now.

Thank you, sir, for being here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Mr. Fraser, you're up for six minutes.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Missal, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your thoughts. It's very much appreciated.

I want to start with one thing that I think is probably common to the veterans departments in Canada and the U.S. That's the complex system of benefits and services provided by each department. I'm wondering if you could comment on what is being done currently in the United States to try to simplify or streamline the process of accessing benefits or services that the members have earned. Could you talk a bit about the complexity issue and how you are focusing on making it simpler?

[Michael Missal]

Sure.

VA, as I said, has 56 regional offices that are responsible for administering the benefits that veterans have earned. There were complaints that some of the offices weren't moving as quickly...some were busier than others. What VA has done is to move to a national workload queue, meaning that they're not relying just on the geography of where the veteran is, but rather considering the type of claim it is and which of the veterans regional offices has the capacity to take on that work. The hope there is to streamline that.

In addition, in terms of the complexity, I believe VA is going to try to simplify some of the rules. One of the issues we have found is that the people who work at VBA, the veterans benefits administration, don't fully understand some of the complex rules. I know the secretary has spoken about that, and it certainly comes up as it relates to the wait times to get into a medical centre. There are all these different rules. The secretary has said he'd like to try to simplify the rules, both for access and benefits, so that it's easier to work through the administrative function there.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Do you see a role in working with the Department of Defense on streamlining the process of transitioning veterans towards civilian life, in helping them to understand what benefits and services are available before they are actually released from the military?

[Michael Missal]

Yes, I believe there are programs in which that is done. That's VA's responsibility. We have not looked at that area for some time.

Just today, the secretary announced that, with the blessing of Congress, they're going to move to an electronic health care system which is compatible with the Department of Defense, so that a service member's medical records can be transferred to VA when that service member becomes a veteran.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

You talked a little about some of the work you do in investigating benefits fraud. In Canada, we have a benefit-of-the-doubt system. The veteran is supposed to be given the benefit of the doubt when approaching Veterans Affairs for services and benefits.

I'm wondering how you balance investigating benefits fraud with ensuring that legitimate claims are processed in a timely manner, especially given that there's an up to five-year waiting period, I understand, for an appeal. It would be nice, I'm sure, to get it right the first time, if possible, in both of our countries.

Can you comment on that, finding those cases where there may be fraud—I assume that's in a limited number of cases—and balancing that with ensuring that we get it right the first time with legitimate claims?

[Michael Missal]

We do that balancing all the time.

Unfortunately, we have found a number of instances where veterans, family members, and others have engaged in criminal activity to take advantage of benefits they're not entitled to.

We do spend time investigating that. A number of the cases we have in this area are referred to us by other veterans who do not like to see the system cheated. We work with veterans who provide us with information to ensure that the system is operating as effectively as possible.

We also spend time, in our audits, trying to help VA identify areas where they can make benefits determinations and other decisions more effectively. We have a benefits inspection group, and their job is to go around to the various regional offices that determine benefits, do audits of their processes, and make recommendations as to how they can be more effective.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Excellent.

Thank you very much, sir, for your time today.

Those are my questions.

[Michael Missal]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Ms. Mathyssen.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Missal. We appreciate very much your appearing before the committee. I was quite intrigued that you had worked in Toronto for a while and, if there's time, perhaps we could talk about that.

I have a couple of questions.

First, Mr. Reynolds talked about the fact that you have the ability to collect a great deal of data and apply that data. You talked about the fact that there are many female veterans. We're discussing the issue of military sexual trauma, and I have some concerns in regard to how women are identified, men as well, in terms of that kind of trauma, and the tracking and supports. I'm thinking of the clinical help that is given to them.

What's your experience in terms of that? Do women and men readily report? Is there a special service in regard to the tracking and support systems?

[Michael Missal]

We do get reports of those issues. We are considering doing a national audit on sexual trauma. We've also done a number of reports relating to women veterans and the kind of treatment they get at the health care facilities at VA. We have done a national audit on that as well. We are very conscious of issues for all veterans, male and female. As I said, we are limited in the number of things we can do, but we consider this an important area that we are going to be exploring further.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

I also wonder if the U.S. government has considered the option of replacing monthly disability benefits with a lump sum payment. We had a change to our Veterans Charter back in 2005-06, and when service personnel are injured, they can opt for a lump sum. There has been some concern about that. It has its challenges. For example, young individuals receiving a large lump sum don't think ahead to the time when they will be 50 or 60 years old and may need that money for special medical or counselling services, but the money will be gone and the supports will have disappeared.

Have you considered that option, and if so, are there advantages or disadvantages from your perspective?

[Michael Missal]

Those kinds of issues relating to the types of benefits that are available to veterans would be determined at first blush by the U.S. Congress, which would determine what the rules are. Then there are times when they delegate to the department the ability to administer other rules as well.

We would get involved once a decision is made to determine whether the program is being run efficiently and effectively, but we typically don't get involved in those kinds of substantive determinations.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Okay, thank you.

I was talking about the fact that the reality surrounding a veteran can change over the years. Is the amount of monthly benefit for disability compensation increased or reduced over the years? Do you keep track of the changes in the health of those individuals?

[Michael Missal]

That is something the veterans benefits administration would keep track of. They would have all the records of the benefits provided to veterans, as well as whatever tests are done to determine whether or not a veteran is eligible for any kind of benefits. They would have all those records.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

I assume the testing is fairly rigorous and extensive, just to make sure, as you said, that things are fair and that people are getting the benefits they need without worrying about those who might take advantage of the system.

[Michael Missal]

They do have rigorous testing, and for a number of issues it might involve a medical examination as well, depending on the type of benefit being sought.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you very much. Those are my questions.

[Michael Missal]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Mrs. Lockhart, go ahead.

[Alaina Lockhart, Liberal, Fundy Royal, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Missal, for joining us today.

My colleague mentioned a bit about transition. We heard from Mr. Reynolds, as well, that the VA has started engaging at the time of enlistment, and those who are separating attend a session with DOD, VA, and other organizations. Is that a result of observations you've made? What have those been?

[Michael Missal]

We have not looked at that for some time. It's an area that we are always conscious of. If we receive a number of complaints, if we think it's an area that deserves further attention—obviously, with the secretary's announcement of the IT system that is interoperable with DOD—we would look at those kinds of issues, but sitting here today, I can't recall one we have done recently in that area.