Veteran Affairs aims to rein in costs as marijuana reimbursement bill balloons to $63.7 million

Thanks for the info trooper much appreciated take care my friend

Rifleman wrote:Ok I had a pain specialist do up a report stating that I required more then the 3 grams a day that vac has allocated and go figure Denied with no explanation what so ever I have now put in for a review so this is how vac will save money DENY DENY DENY goddamm morons after I got the denial letter I phoned vac 4 times asking why I was denied and nobody would tell me why what a bunch of bullshit these morons continue to play mind games if I do not get any answers soon I will be going to cbc network and have a chat and put this out in the open for everyone to see how these idiots deal with vets I'm so pissed of

Throw this in their face:

There is an exceptional approval process for Veterans authorized for more than three grams per day that will ensure their health and well-being through consultation with relevant medical specialists.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/services/health/cannabis-medical-purposes

What is the exceptional circumstances process?

Requests for more than three grams per day may be approved when supported by a medical specialist in a relevant specialty. The opinion and rationale of the medical specialists will be considered in determining whether to approve amounts above three grams per day. For example, a Veteran who has pain from cancer would need to provide documentation for exceptional circumstances from an oncologist.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/help/faq/cannabis-medical-purposes#a04

Ok I had a pain specialist do up a report stating that I required more then the 3 grams a day that vac has allocated and go figure Denied with no explanation what so ever I have now put in for a review so this is how vac will save money DENY DENY DENY goddamm morons after I got the denial letter I phoned vac 4 times asking why I was denied and nobody would tell me why what a bunch of bullshit these morons continue to play mind games if I do not get any answers soon I will be going to cbc network and have a chat and put this out in the open for everyone to see how these idiots deal with vets I'm so pissed of

I agree with the point posted on the report being empty unless they take into account the cost savings of prescribed Pharmaceutical meds.

But it doesn't surprise me that our Minister would move on this, he makes his decisions based on what is presented to him by his staffers/bureaucrats. He looks at the price tag and reacts on the cost, what Veterans are saying is once again, shrugged off. We have a video somewhere on this forum where our Minister is asked about the cost of our file moving forward on the actions or implementations, I believe the question was, how much are you willing to spend? He replied, as much as it takes.

It's actually starting to get to the point where these evil and unfair tactics the Liberals are using against it's disabled Veterans are making the disable community look further into what exactly it is, their doing. We are getting better educated on the unjust tactics the government uses on all of us. Even though we have a huge division throughout our community, social media is now the building block of documenting and building up evidence that we will throw back at the government in defending ourselves.

We need to all remember the lies, the tactics the Liberals have used against us come next election. All three parties have little to offer on our file, but that should not stop us from fighting hard to make sure the Liberals do not get re - elected.

My post reflects my opinion, individuals can make their own opinion on the subject.

I believe in the use of MM for veterans but this article seemed more like an attack on the MM dispensaries then on the number of vets on MM and the cost VAC pays.

So with the research starting on MM and PTSD, pain for vets sponsored by VAC is this going to lead to gov't dispensaries?

I know the 10 to 3 grams cutback is not sitting well with everyone but if the study is positive I can see the gov't growers being a choice if the vet wants increased amounts above 3 grams.

Not to mention big pharma must be going crazy with the drop in prescription drugs for vets.

That is very true Bigrex.
Where are the good stories and how it has changed  lives for the positive?
Not the cost of what it takes to enhance our wounded veteran's quality of life (QoL).
Even the most unlikely folks (older veterans) are given it a gander, so let's get into the future "it's 2017"!  
When you're living in pain 24/7, anything helps (even from a plant), but myself it's all about (QoL) and "if" Marihuana is what works, then be it.
The only problem I have with Marihuana is that it makes me cough and now the added stress of when VAC plans to do away with it all together and place it under the new Liquor & Marihuana control act, making it recreational opposed to medicinal.
Where is this leading; 1. Big tax profit 2. Money off the streets 3. Government control over the industry

Tourism, Marihuana sales and the tax profit, what it means for Canada?  More money in the pockets of the bureaucrats and more fighting to get it out of theirs and back into the rightful owners (us veterans who lived to defend these people).

I posted something similar to this above a while back, in regards to the money that will be reigned in and placed into the Treasury Board of Canada.

This report is disingenuous until they also report how much money they spent on other medications for the same time period. Sure the increased spending sounds like a lot to the average Canadian, but if it replaced an equal or lesser amount of money spent on pharmaceuticals, the public isn't being told the whole story.

Veteran Affairs aims to rein in costs as marijuana reimbursement bill balloons to $63.7 million

Sunny Freeman May 16, 2017



Veterans Affairs paid out $44.5 million for medical marijuana expenses in the year before the government cracked down on soaring reimbursement costs — more than three times what it covered in the prior two years combined.

The department covered 3.7 million grams of marijuana at an average cost of $12.01 per gram from October 2015 to September 2016 — 30 per cent higher than what it considers market value.

The cost breakdown was included in documents released under an access to information request ahead of a Veterans Affairs policy change this month that will significantly reduce the amount of medical marijuana eligible for reimbursement.

The move is part of an effort to curtail government spending on skyrocketing medical marijuana costs as the number of ex-soldiers claiming medical marijuana expenses rises rapidly.

Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr announced last November the department would cap reimbursement at $8.50 per gram —what it considers “market value”— and reduce the eligible amount from 10 to three grams per day for new patients. As of May 22, the volume limit will apply to all veterans.

Reimbursement costs in the four months since the November policy change totalled $16.8 million, significantly higher than the $13 million spent in the entire two years from October 2013 to September 2015, suggesting spending is still on an upward trajectory despite recent cost containment measures.

Veterans Affairs began a review of its medical marijuana reimbursement policy in March 2016 following an auditor general’s report that found program costs were ballooning amid a massive increase in users and would soon account for nearly one-third of all federal drug coverage for veterans.

The review was completed in April 2016 but the changes weren’t announced until November. In the meantime, allegations emerged about some licensed producers abusing the system with aggressive campaigns seeking out veterans by paying fees to doctor and clinics for patient referrals and purposely directing veterans to their most expensive products.

Veterans Affairs told the Financial Post it cannot provide details of investigations into specific companies due to privacy regulations, but said it conducts regular audits on licensed producers and if questionable practices are identified it can deregister the provider and refer to Health Canada for further action.

A departmental review found that retired soldiers were authorized for ten times the amount authorized for other patients. At least seven in ten veterans were being reimbursed for amounts greater than the new three-gram limit, according to the documents.

The department also found that one unnamed physician was responsible for 57 per cent of veterans’ medical marijuana authorizations.

It noted that “some family members have been distressed by how easily their veteran has been able to obtain MM (medical marijuana) from one heavy prescriber,” according to minutes from a meeting of experts.

Veterans Affairs did not address those specific allegations when it announced changes to the reimbursement program, despite their potential impact on rising costs.

Taxpayers covered $63.7 million in medical marijuana reimbursements for veterans last year, compared to just $19,000 in 2008, when five retired soldiers were reimbursed.

The department’s reimbursement costs have exploded since 2014 when the Conservative government launched a free market for medical marijuana and prices shot up to as much as $14 a gram from $5 per gram.

As of March, 4,474 veterans had their cannabis bills covered, up 154 per cent from the 1,762 covered in the year prior.

Veterans Affairs is among only a handful of Canadian institutions that cover the cost of the drug, which makes veterans a particularly lucrative market opportunity for licensed marijuana producers.

According to the documents, licensed producer MedReleaf Inc. — the biggest beneficiary of medical marijuana reimbursements —, charged Veterans Affairs $22.4 million, half the total amount the department paid out to cover veterans’ medical marijuana costs between October 2015 and September 2016.

The Markham-based company, which plans to publicly-list on the Toronto Stock Exchange soon, booked $30 million in revenues in the nine months ended in December representing growth of 141 per cent from the previous year, according to a prospectus document filed May 9.

A “significant portion” of revenue came from veteran sales, according to the filing, however a spokesperson declined further comment because the company is in a quiet period ahead of the initial public offering.

MedReleaf is conducting a study on cannabis for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, has a separate shopping site for veterans and holds meetings and events targeting ex-soldiers. Spokesperson Darren Karasiuk declined to say whether it pays referral fees to clinics and doctors.

The government’s policy changes started to take a toll on MedReleaf’s sales as early as December, when it offered a discount to offset the price difference between veterans’ preferred strains and the $8.50 per gram reimbursement cap. It had been charging Veterans Affairs an average of $13.02 per gram, according to the government’s cost breakdown.

The company’s regulatory filings identified future changes to the veterans’ reimbursement program as a risk, noting that some veterans will be authorized to be exempt from the limit.

“If a significant number of the company’s eligible veteran patients do not obtain such an exemption, MedReleaf’s sales and revenues could be adversely affected,” it said in the prospectus document.


Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr announced last November the department would cap reimbursement at $8.50 per gram.

Leamington, Ont.-based Aphria Inc. charged the department the second-highest bill: $6.6 million at an average cost of $12.04 per gram, documents show. Retired soldiers represent about 20 per cent of its patient base and account for half of its revenue. As part of its patient acquisition strategy, the company pays referral fees to “patient aggregators” such as clinics.

The reimbursement cap hit the company’s most recent quarterly revenues as its average selling price decreased from $8.18 per gram to $7.85 per gram even as the volume sold increased.

However, the impact of the new three-gram reimbursement limit will be mitigated by strong growth in other areas of the company’s business, chief financial officer Carl Merton said in an email.

“We anticipate that the existing demand for our products from registered patients, the demand associated with new registered patients in the quarter and the increased demand for wholesale product (sales to other licensed producers) will increase in the quarter, offsetting the decrease in grams paid for by Veterans Affairs.”

While licensed producers cope with the impacts of the changes on their bottom line, the new policies have already reined in taxpayer-funded reimbursements.

Even as the overall program costs continue to rise as the number of veterans participating soars, the average cost per patient in the six months since November’s announcement was $5,872, down from $10,996 in the six months prior — a drop of 47 per cent.

http://business.financialpost.com/business/veteran-affairs-department-reins-in-reimbursement-costs-as-marijuana-bill-balloons-to-44-5-million