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Finance committee Well, of those specific files. There were a lot of questions, and we did our due diligence to make sure that we are processing them properly, processing them according to the Income Tax Act and the 14-hour threshold. When somebody asks us questions and when my boss asks us questi
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee My boss, the commissioner, asked me whether there was an issue, whether there were any problems in terms of how we were processing them. I do my due diligence and I immediately check to find out whether we are doing this properly. We do calls out to the field. It takes a little w
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee There are two steps. The first step is the initial application to find out whether you're approved, and that usually takes between six and 10 weeks. We're within that range now, and it will fluctuate over the course of the year. Then there's the second part—
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee I said between six and 10 weeks. It's six to 10 weeks, and it will fluctuate throughout the year. There will be exceptions when, for example, we have follow-up with doctors or with the patient. It can take longer at times, but six to 10 weeks is our service standard. Internally
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee Then the second component is what's called the adjustment, the T1 adjustment, which we now do automatically if the individual asks. That's one of the improvements that we made to the application form. You can now put in a check, and we will automatically provide those refunds for
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee These are complex questions in a complex decision-making process. We run a fairly large program here. As the commissioner said, we gave out $1.3 billion of benefits for 2016-17, so it is a very big program. We're processing a lot of applications. I think it was 265,000 last year.
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee Yes, it's a CRA manager, in consultation.... It would be at a manager level. It certainly wouldn't be made at my level. It would be managers and people trained in this. We have a staff of nurses at headquarters who are in constant communication with the medical community. They'r
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee Maybe I can say two things. First of all, yes, we are looking at this and doing a comparison of the last several years and post-May 2017, which you referred to. We are looking over time to see what's happened to acceptance rates, so certainly we'll look at that. It's going to ta
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee I think you're going to get a range of views on that. Based on the information that I've received from our staff, my assessment is that there have been a lot of advances that do reduce the time it takes for some people to manage their diabetes. That's not for everybody, but it ce
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee We exchange information with doctors. We send letters to make sure that we have information on an individual case and about whether or not it takes more than 14 hours to manage it. This is sometimes a difficult form for doctors to answer. Why? If you take a look at some types of
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee That's right. It's more difficult for the physician to respond because the physician doesn't actually witness that, as opposed to a hospital setting. It's fairly clear when dialysis takes 14 hours a week and whether it's more than three times a week. That becomes very clear. In
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee At CRA, we administer the Income Tax Act, and it sets out pretty clearly what an eligible activity is and what an ineligible activity is with respect to the counting of those 14 hours. You mentioned a whole range of things. The travel back and forth to the doctor would not be eli
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Finance committee We take into account only those things that are set out in the Income Tax Act. We administer the program. Something such as exercise, as you said, to stay healthy, is not considered part of that. When there are complications and other health impacts, sometimes that does come into
November 23rd, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Public Accounts committee The fact that we have side-by-side listening rather than call recording is a major issue. It puts us in the situation where we don't have an accurate reading of the error rates all the time, exactly as the Auditor General pointed out. We did an internal audit ourselves and found
November 30th, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten
Public Accounts committee Our internal audit showed that we had an error rate of 20%, but it is a considerably different—
November 30th, 2017Committee meeting
Frank Vermaeten