Feds urged to fast-track approval of veterans’ disability claims
OTTAWA— Frustration is growing within Canada’s veterans’ community as many disabled ex-soldiers continue to wait for federal support and benefits even as the government rushes to approve millions of claims for assistance related to COVID-19. The growing frustration among veterans comes as Canada passed a new milestone Sunday, with more than half the country’s roughly 76,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 now listed as recovered. More than 5,700 people have died from the respiratory illness.
Veterans and their advocates have been calling for Ottawa to automatically approve roughly 44,000 claims that have been sitting in the backlog at Veterans Affairs Canada, a request that the federal government has so far rejected.
Yet many are now questioning why the government is refusing to act following reports federal officials have been told to approve payments through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit even in cases of suspected fraud or abuse.
Federal officials have suggested that roughly 200,000 of the estimated eight million CERB payments made so far have been flagged as a concern. The government has said it wanted to get money to Canadians quickly during the pandemic, and will crack down on abusers at a later date.
The purpose and legal requirements around the CERB are different from Veterans Affairs Canada’s disability benefits programs, department spokesperson Josh Buekert said, adding officials are looking at ways to help process disability claims during the pandemic.
Frustration has been boiling over on social media and elsewhere, however, with numerous veterans demanding to know why the government can fast-track millions of claims for assistance related to COVID-19 but not those injured while serving in uniform.
The National Council of Veteran Associations, which represents more than 60 veteran groups, has been leading calls for the government to automatically approve the outstanding applications for disability benefits from injured veterans to help them deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
Not only are approval rates for most categories of injuries — including post-traumatic stress disorder — extremely high, council chair Brian Forbes said the pandemic has created new hurdles for processing claims because of the need for doctor’s assessments and other requirements.