SOLDIERS FIGHTING UP HILL BATTLE FOR INJURY COMPENSATION - UPDATE

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The following article, which was published in the Edmonton Journal on 13 April 2008, has caused the DND/CF Ombudsman's office to decide to investigate the reasoning for Canadian Forces Health Services Group to forbid it's doctors to provide our soldiers with the extra, crucial information required to expedite and increase the amount of claims for injuries to Veterans Affairs:

It has been uncovered that Canadian soldiers are forced to use a poor, archaic system developed to adjudicate compensation claims for soldiers who have been injured on duty at home and abroad.

Soldiers face an uphill battle putting in a claim with Veterans Affairs and are forced to fight a convoluted quagmire of bureaucracy when seeking compensation.

Military doctors are ordered not to share additional verbal or written information with DVA when a claim requires their input to clarify and augment the information on the medical file. This causes problems with the claim process and in a great number of cases, the claim is denied and the soldier is forced to seek help from the Legion or the Bureau of Pensions Advocates.

Veterans Affairs has been handcuffed with this "soldier stressful" policy and will either deny the claim or pay out the minimum that is required, 5% to 20% in most cases.

This has put much stress and strain on the injured soldier. Many simply accept the decision and carry on, believing the betrayal is standard practice and is unbeatable.

After launching numerous complaints to the Ombudsman for DND and DVA, it has become necessary to seek assistance from my Member of Parliament and other government officials. Each believes there is a grave injustice in this process and supports my quest to get it fixed.

Military doctors are too busy to provide any additional information. But a doctor's first concern should be the soldier and the emotional stress this policy inflects on them, and by taking a few minutes to answer questions from DVA, it would help both mentally and physically in the soldier's recovery. Instead, soldiers are symbolically left to patch their own wounds, find their own cures, and dig their own graves when trying to prove their claims.

If doctors were ordered to provide information, it would save time, money, and stress on soldiers who have already given everything for their country. DVA currently suggests that soldiers seek outside medical advice from civilian doctors, but those doctors have no medical records or history on the soldier's injuries.

So much money wasted by ignoring a simple, economic, soldier friendly solution to reinforce the SUPPORT OUR TROOPS slogan.