Re: Backlog

by **Masefield** Tue 29 Sep 2020, 4:17 pm

Union demands permanent hires to solve backlog in veterans' benefit applications

Published Tuesday, September 29, 2020

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/union-demands-permanent-hires-to-solve-backlog-in-veterans-benefit-applications-1.5124814

by **Trooper** Tue 29 Sep 2020, 6:36 pm

Masefield wrote:
Union demands permanent hires to solve backlog in veterans' benefit applications

Published Tuesday, September 29, 2020

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/union-demands-permanent-hires-to-solve-backlog-in-veterans-benefit-applications-1.5124814

The fact of the matter is the Government of Canada is under no legal obligation to do anything for Veterans...Disabled or otherwise. This was made crystal clear by the Judges in the Equitas law suit. The bottom line is really simple...Advocates from any corner of the Country...Support from any corner of the Country either advocating or speaking for Veterans in this Country don't have a leg to stand on. We continue to see responses like this one above acknowledging a problem or problems but that's as far as it goes. The next page gets turned until someone else writes or speaks up for Veterans. Then we get the same response...more needs to be done, and were always looking for ways to better the system. This is as evil as evil can get. They are buying time on the backs of Veterans, and the pension act is slowly fading away. Their plan has worked well for them...Their tactics are working well for them. Bottom line comes down to the government taking away the pension act system for Veterans in this Country, and replacing it with a system that does not fair at all compared to the pension act. My heart goes out to those disabled Veterans who have to accept this unfair system that was placed upon them by those who are suppose to legislate fairness for Veterans, but instead ignored fairness, and support they all claim to have towards disabled Veterans in this Country!

by **Rockarm** Wed 07 Oct 2020, 7:55 am

Veterans Affairs still planning to significantly reduce disability backlog by 2022

Kevin Yarr · CBC News · Posted: Oct 05, 2020

Backlog - Page 2 Li-wpg-veterans-memorial-12

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-veterans-affairs-disability-backlog-1.5750348

by **Silversun** Thu 15 Oct 2020, 7:57 am

Union of Veterans Affairs Employees urges more action on disability backlog

Tony Davis · CBC News · Posted: Oct 14, 2020

Backlog - Page 2 Mideast-abandoned-kurds

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-uvac-more-action-oct-14-1.5761447

by Cooper Sun 25 Oct 2020, 8:40 pm

Feds urged to act as data suggests COVID-19 making it hard for veterans to get help

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, October 25, 2020

https://www.cp24.com/news/feds-urged-to-act-as-data-suggests-covid-19-making-it-hard-for-veterans-to-get-help-1.5160301

by **Rockarm** Tue 10 Nov 2020, 8:42 am

Veterans frustrated with growing delay in applications for disability benefits

Published Monday, November 9, 2020

OTTAWA -- Thousands of Canadian veterans have been left waiting for disability benefits because of a growing delay in processing applications, leading to increased frustration and stress among those who served this country.

According to Veterans Affairs Canada, nearly 19,000 applications for disability benefits sit in a backlog, which is actually an improvement from the roughly 21,000-claim backlog as of June, but the department admits only 37 per cent of claims are addressed within its own 16-week standard time frame.

These delays can lead to real-world problems for veterans, including Dawn Dussault, who was medically released from the military in 2016 with post-traumatic stress disorder and a back injury.

She told CTV News that for many veterans, herself included, acute issues become chronic ones while waiting for claims to be processed.

“They have hundreds of pages of medical records to prove I was actually diagnosed with complex trauma and I’ve yet to see anything on that, and I know they just keep asking me for more information and more paperwork,” she told CTV News.

Fellow veteran Charles Scott is taking his frustrations directly to Ottawa. He and other veterans are writing an open letter calling for the resignation of Minister of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay.

“We want to create awareness, we want to let the minister and prime minister know they must be accountable,” he said. “When you make promises you must fulfill those promises. Enough is enough.”

In the draft letter, which will be sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and MacAulay later this week, the group says veterans should have timely access to services meant to help deal with injuries suffered while serving in the Canadian military and that “two years is too long to wait.”

“We do not make this request lightly,” the group wrote in the letter. “We make it only after the repeated failure of the honourable minister to address the crisis-level backlog.”

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux has said that getting through the backlog without additional funding will take at least five years.

“If the government maintained the same level of resources it would cost about $105 million over five years,” Giroux said. “That would only reduce the backlog by 10,000 applications.”

MacAulay declined an interview request for this story, but in a statement called the backlog “unacceptable” and pointed to the department’s recent investment of $200 million, which is being used to hire nearly 500 new staff members to process claims.

The department is also implementing new protocols meant to speed up the process, including the creation of benefit teams to promote information sharing, especially in the early stages of the application process.

“(This) will allow the Department to get the backlog under control and ensure that veterans receive the benefits they’re entitled to in a timely manner,” the statement reads.

Although he feels let down by what he considers to be a “broken” and “complicated” system, Scott says he remains hopeful real and meaningful change is still possible.

“If I didn’t have hope I wouldn’t be here,” Scott said. “I’m putting myself out there along with many other veterans to bring this awareness out and I’m very hopeful that in time, Canadians will speak up.”

Dawn Dussault, who was medically released from the military in 2016, has been waiting for disability benefits from Veterans Affairs Canada.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/veterans-frustrated-with-growing-delay-in-applications-for-disability-benefits-1.5181942

by JAFO Tue 10 Nov 2020, 11:17 am

Can anyone explain to me how VAC has gone from a 45,000 backlog of applications to 21,000 (or is it 19,000)?

Wasn't this the department where their union head said mere weeks ago they needed an additional 300 people to process the backlog?

Well at least they educated Wholesale Grocer about the poppy....seems that's the only thing this Liberal gov't is good at.....hiding facts.

by **Oliver** Tue 10 Nov 2020, 8:16 pm

Veterans feel stung by benefits backlog

By Jolson Lim. Published on Nov 10, 2020

Backlog - Page 2 PoppyDonationBox_GP03-1200x675

https://ipolitics.ca/2020/11/10/veterans-feel-stung-by-benefits-backlog/

by Cypher Wed 11 Nov 2020, 8:41 pm

Veterans benefit backlog will be 'under control' but
likely not eradicated by 2022: minister

Published Wednesday, November 11, 2020

OTTAWA -- Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay says the ongoing backlog of processing veterans’ applications for disability benefits will be “under control” but likely not completely eradicated by 2022.

“I can’t say we’re going to totally eliminate the backlog, but our goal is to put it where it should be,” MacAulay said in an interview on CTV’s Power Play, stating that the outstanding cases by then will likely be more complex files. “We expect by 2022 to have the backlog under control.”

As CTV News reported earlier this week, thousands of Canadian veterans have been left waiting for disability benefits because of a growing delay in processing applications, leading to increased frustration and stress among those who served this country.

MacAulay said there are “a number of problems,” including an increase in new applications but “that’s no excuse.”

“It’s the responsibility of the government to make sure these applications are handled, and handled properly,” he said.

According to Veterans Affairs Canada, nearly 19,000 applications for disability benefits sit in a backlog, which is actually an improvement from the roughly 21,000-claim backlog as of June, but the department admits only 37 per cent of claims are addressed within its own 16-week standard time frame.

These delays can lead to real-world problems for veterans, including experiences where acute issues become chronic while waiting for federal support. It’s led some veterans to call for MacAulay to resign.

“This backlog is the biggest issue we’ve got to deal with, it’s the number one priority for myself,” he said during Wednesday’s interview. “We owe it to them, and we will do it.”

In a separate panel discussion on CTV’s Power Play, VETS Canada’s Debbie Lowther and Wounded Warriors Scott Maxwell said it’s frustrating that for years, despite promises from a rotation of past veterans affairs ministers from both Conservative and Liberal governments, that officials still struggle to deliver these and other services to Canadians who served their country.

“It’s great to hear any minister of veterans affairs say, ‘We’re going to fix it,’ because we need to fix it, but the reality is every year we go back… we’ve said these things over and over again,” said Maxwell. “We’ve had nine ministers of veterans affairs in Canada in the last 10 years.”

Lowther said that she sees often veterans requiring other organizations’ assistance after not getting the help they expected from the government when they need it, and when cases drag on some withdraw their claims, while others are traumatized when asked for more information about their mental and physical health situations.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux has cautioned that getting through the backlog without additional funding will take at least five years.

MacAulay has previously called the backlog “unacceptable” and pointed to the department’s recent investment of $200 million, which is being used to hire nearly 500 new staff members to process claims.

The department is also implementing new protocols meant to speed up the process, including digitizing files and creating benefit teams to promote information sharing, especially in the early stages of the application process.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/veterans-benefit-backlog-will-be-under-control-but-likely-not-eradicated-by-2022-minister-1.5184907

by JAFO Thu 12 Nov 2020, 10:43 am

So I contacted Annie Bergeron-Oliver that she should check her numbers on the backlog. I stated it's in the 40-50,000 range NOT 19,000.

She stated that she talked to an ADM at VAC (she did not state who and asking would be a waste of time as we all know VAC employees are very skiddish when it comes to public scrutiny). The ADM was "adamant" that the figure of 40-50,000 is "not accurate when describing the backlog" and here is a link to the "description" of the application backlog

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/about-vac/news-media/media-kits/dis-ben-process-summary-report

Scroll down to the first table and you will see the full "description" of the application backlog.

In case you are wondering why I Italicized the word description. I did it to show that VAC Canada is now working like the VA in the USA. They are breaking down applications into categories to make it look like VAC is working hard for veterans.

About 4-5 years ago the VA in Arizona was praised for lowering the count on American veterans waiting for their benefits and treatments. When in reality the list of veterans actually increased over the time period where it looked like the VA was working hard.

What the Arizona VA did was create lists of veterans on the waiting list by "describing" them as to how long they have been on the list by breaking the wait times down by years. That's right they created a list of people on a waiting list who's position on the list depended on the amount of time they have been on the original wait list!

VAC Canada is now breaking the application backlog into categories (descriptions) to give the illusion to the Canadian public they are hard at work.

YET the above article states that VAC used $200 million to hire 500 employees to get the application backlog to an acceptable level, as stated by the VAC Minister. I say that has been a waste of $200 million to help veterans as they can't even produce what was stated in the article....

According to Veterans Affairs Canada, nearly 19,000 applications for disability benefits sit in a backlog, which is actually an improvement from the roughly 21,000-claim backlog as of June, but the department admits only 37 per cent of claims are addressed within its own 16-week standard time frame.

So if we look at the numbers stated 37% of 21,000 is 7,770. That's how many claims are being processed in the 16 week standard time frame. So shouldn't the total number be 13,230 NOT 19,000?

Oh I know where I screwed up....I forgot to find out which category (description) VAC used to get that 37% processing of applications amount from.

Imagine the amount of time it took VAC to create the descriptions and assign each individual application to the proper description to give the illusion that VAC is flattening the application curve?

Now imagine if that effort had of been directed to completing applications how many could have been done? Like I said what a waste of $200 million.

by **Warrior** Fri 20 Nov 2020, 10:07 am

Federal Retirees demands solutions amid veterans’
claims backlog

November 19, 2020

On Nov. 12, 2020, Simon Coakeley, CEO of the National Association of Federal Retirees, appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs in their study of the persistent backlog of disability benefit claims at Veterans Affairs Canada.

Department officials were quick to shift the blame to veterans, pinning the reason for the backlog on incomplete applications and missing information. But what is really needed is a hard look at a system that some veterans have said is broken beyond repair.

Watch Coakeley’s opening remarks to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs below.

“Transition to civilian life can be challenging for those dealing with illness, injury or trauma, and this is unfortunately often further complicated by the absence of any systemic approach to ensure veterans have continued access to medical care,” said Coakeley. “These issues are compounded by unreasonable wait times for disability benefit processing at Veterans Affairs Canada, which results in a lack of veteran confidence in a system they must rely on.”

Although there is little doubt that a backlog can be dealt with by an army of new staff and an infusion of cash, Coakeley was clear that the backlog is not a homogenous lump of claims. Other witnesses reminded the Committee that addressing the backlog with an influx of human and financial resources now will only be a temporary fix if the systemic issues that led to the backlog are not addressed.

Some veterans are waiting longer than others and are more seriously impacted by the backlog. Citing the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman’s report on Timely and Transparent Decisions from 2018, Coakeley reminded the Committee that anglophone applicants waited, on average, 24 weeks for a decision while francophones waited an average of 45 weeks. 42 per cent of female clients waited over 40 weeks for a decision, while only 26 per cent of male clients waited that long.

The backlog means thousands of veterans are waiting on decisions from the department – a wait that deprives them of necessary benefits and medical care. The longer the wait, the more serious some cases can become. Some applications have been pending for years, despite the department’s service standard for 80 percent of decisions to be made within 16 weeks. In fact, the department is meeting that standard with only 37 per cent of the applications it receives, according to its 2018-2019 reporting.

Federal Retirees supported, but also cautioned, the Committee on an evidence-based, automated approval approach for applications for some conditions – one of the “clear the decks” solutions proposed to deal with the massive backlog.

A toolbox contains more than hammers and Veterans Affairs needs to make better use of some other tools. Solutions that speed up or streamline the claims process are important but it is critical to address the backlog in a way that supports the veterans who wait longest – some of them for systemic reasons. One way to do that is to require Veterans Affairs to step up its Gender-Based Analysis+ (GBA+) Strategy in the delivery of its programs and services, and to mainstream the use of GBA+ across the department.

“Veterans Affairs Canada should know who is most severely impacted by its backlog and why. Our veterans urgently need a targeted plan to address these systemic issues, especially for those who are left waiting the longest and need help the most,” says Coakeley. “It is 2020, and it is time Canada put in place the resources needed to assure equitable outcomes for all veterans.”

by JAFO Fri 20 Nov 2020, 11:30 am

Sorry Trooper but you are probably not going to like this.....

What The (Frack) does this mean????

A toolbox contains more than hammers and Veterans Affairs needs to make better use of some other tools. Solutions that speed up or streamline the claims process are important but it is critical to address the backlog in a way that supports the veterans who wait longest – some of them for systemic reasons. One way to do that is to require Veterans Affairs to step up its Gender-Based Analysis+ (GBA+) Strategy in the delivery of its programs and services, and to mainstream the use of GBA+ across the department.

Talk about scrapping the bottom of the "excuse barrel"!!!

So not only are veterans to blame for submitting incomplete applications NOW it's a French/English, Male/Female problem! GET (FRACKING) REAL!!!

Where is the article on the examination of HOW the damn department works? Is there repercussions for INCOMPETENT employees? Has anyone in the department over the last 10 years received a yearly bonus? And the most important point....

WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THIS (FRACKING) DEPARTMENT????? AND WHY IS THIS PERSON STILL EMPLOYED???

by **Trooper** Fri 20 Nov 2020, 6:58 pm

JAFO true enough but we see a lot of incompetency or lack of knowledge coming from various people or groups claiming to advocate or speak on behalf of Veterans in this Country. Call or write your MP...Write the PM...Speak at stakeholder summits...attend town halls...be a part of a committee VAC/OVO. It's just a bunch of bull plain and simple. This Backlog situation does not impair or hurt the government of Canada in any shape or form. Everyone needs to remember one very important thing with all that surrounds the Veterans file, the legal authorization has spoken clear in plain English that the government of Canada has no legal obligation to do anything for Canadian Veterans. So the only real thing that can be done is sue them for what they do, with what they legislate. In other words you can have the best speaker, or speakers, the best knowledgeable person, or persons advertising to the whole planet how Veterans are feeling betrayed by our government, and this will result in absolutely nothing except the satisfaction of voicing concerns, or blowing off steam. It is what it is. None of this changes the facts that stare at each and everyone one of us who served this Country. So my advice would be to turn away from the same old song and dance of beating a dead horse, and start looking at ways to sue the government for what they do, with what they have in place. They can start with speaking with a legal team looking at why all medically released Veterans in this Country are not given the chance at rehab until they are medically booted out the door. This should be done prior to being medically released, and not counted towards a benefit after the fact.

by **GeminiTeam** Thu 21 Jan 2021, 4:20 pm

Veterans Affairs Canada Jan 21, 2021

Reducing Wait Times for Disability
Applications: Spike Teams

Reducing wait times for disability benefit applications is the number one priority at Veterans Affairs Canada. We understand why Veterans and their families are frustrated, and we are making changes to address these concerns head on.

Spike Teams

by Rifleman Fri 22 Jan 2021, 3:24 pm

Same Shyte over and over fix the problem already

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