Veterans Affairs committee  Prior to 1996, veterans could go to the Bureau of Pensions Advocates to make an initial claim, and employees there would help them fill out their applications and send their applications in. After 1996, that stopped. The Bureau of Pensions Advocates was not a separate arm. It bec

Veterans Affairs committee  This has happened since a year ago last February. Veterans are having difficulties having their prescriptions filled.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much for having me here today. As I said in my opening, I hope that this time some of the information I pass on actually makes it to serving the veterans and delivering services that they need. Once again, I say hello to all those new members of this committee. I

Veterans Affairs committee  Let's talk about the person with the mental disability PTSD and the other stress injuries that go along with that. If you're only having a phone conversation with a veterans service worker or a case manager, the fact is they don't see your living conditions if they don't come o

Veterans Affairs committee  We need to go back to the idea of case managers going to meet the veteran and filling the needs. This morning, I was told that a lot of this paperwork occurs because sometimes a veteran dies and Veterans Affairs doesn't know it. That's why they send out this paperwork. I think th

Veterans Affairs committee  I haven't had a veterans service agent so far, but I've been told by my 8,000 members that many of them have lost their case management. Even though they're still on a treatment plan, they've lost their case managers and have to go through the veterans service agents. As I mentio

Veterans Affairs committee  It certainly does. As I stated, several of my members have said they were released to their family doctors from the OSI clinics and then relapsed. Once you do that, you have to find your own way. I don't know what the reasoning is or why the OSIs would release anyone from their c

Veterans Affairs committee  As I have said many times before, the item in the budget that met the stakeholders' three priorities was increasing the earnings loss benefit. We asked for 100%. We got 90%. I think that is the biggest impact. As I have said before, the only problem is that they demoted those wh

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Every year I get a multitude of paperwork. I pay child support for my disabled 33-year old son, so I get an additional pension amount for my son. Every year I have to prove that I pay this child support, even though I go through the Alberta maintenance enfor

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll give you an example. Yesterday I had dental surgery, so last night I was in severe pain. I had a prescription in my pocket and went to the pharmacy. I have A-line and B-line coverage on my Veterans Affairs card, which means I'm covered for everything, and my prescription w

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't know if it was to save money. I think it was all about financial compensation for an injury, both for pain and suffering and for earnings lost. I think that was the reasoning behind the.... I have been an advocate going on 17 years now, and these conversations were going

Veterans Affairs committee  After 1996 the veterans' advisory groups were talking about this and trying to come up with a better solution. The best one I can see is to find a need and meet it, meet the financial obligations. A veteran who is leaving the military with an injury should be paid 100% of his s

Veterans Affairs committee  The Veterans Review and Appeal Board should be disbanded and replaced with a board that has served the military in a medical capacity. Medical doctors and nurses who have served the community and doctors' assistants, which are medical assistants at the 6A and 6B level, should be

Veterans Affairs committee  Oh, can I ever. I'd be happy to. First of all, let's talk about the bringing in of the Pension Act once again. The Pension Act is based on $32,000 tax free at 100% disability. The average PTSD pension so far is about 30%. That means you would receive 30% of the $32,000 tax free

Veterans Affairs committee  I say there are two classes of veterans, and you just heard the differences. There are those who come under the old Veterans Charter and those who come under the New Veterans Charter. Then there is a third class of veterans who are under a little bit of each. We're doing a study