Kent Hehr pledges to fix “overlooked” and “bungled” treatment of vets

well I do agree bigrex but not sure it will happen at least across the board . now having said that any money owed would be under the NVC witch has a hardship clause under the overpayment portion of that legislation .

(c) the repayment of the overpayment would cause undue hardship to the person or a beneficiary; or

now I can see the minister using this part of the legislation liberally if he is what I think or hope he is but doing it across the board will I have no doubt bring out the he got that what about me guys and may not be worth the time and effort.

JMO.

propat

True, but how many people have been given a 100% award in the last few years? The average lump sum is only $45000, and I believe I read that they average 5000 claims per year. That would equate to approx $225 million per year. That is small change for the government, and they have written off far more over a weekend. Just look at the money VAC returned. 1.1 billion over 6 years is $183 million dollars per year that they "over budgeted". So even if they forgive a significant percentage of the past payments, it wouldn't hurt them financially.

Although premature.........and speculation is around every corner, I suspect the Liberal government and the MVA respect veterans and genuinely value all the sacrifices made by them/us.

All I want is what is fair:

- legitimate claims denied by VRAB overruled and the scandalous mistakes corrected (yes please.....go
through past claims);
- fair compensation for injuries (I do not care if it is lump sum or pension....just fairness);
- caregivers/spouses recognized and supported for what they do for us without having to jump through
hoops;
- consequential symptoms recognized;
- removal of "claw-backs"; and
- respect!

I do not believe giving veterans what they deserve is so difficult or too much to ask for after all we sacrificed so much for this country and our duty.

I am very optimistic....I just hope our faith has not been misplaced!

Riddick

well bigrex that is true I imagine a guy that got a buyout in 06 would not only not have to payback anything I imagine his PA retro will have money left over to give him a nice bonus .

but in all reality I don't really see them forgiving a 300,000 plus chunk they gave a vet yesterday if they are going to start his PA pension tomorrow .

propat

Rex , I hear what your saying but that will never happen...it may make it easier in a sense but the re - payment - or the rounding up would not be difficult to do...remember it is either or , not both.

Navrat , nothing would surprise me after listening to Mr. Hehr.

True enough wild thing I also heard him say that.

Propat , I agree , I can't see that being to big of an issue.....there are a few ways they can handle those who have already received lump sums....but I'm sure there will be some bureaucrats who don't see it that way....but I'm starting to get a good vibe coming from our MVA in the way he speaks about Veterans an what his intentions are for Veterans.
He needs to stand up to whoever try's to make this more difficult then it really is....an I am a bit optimistic that he will.

The issue I have with paying back all the money, is not everyone will have to pay back equal amounts, it will differ depending on when their award was approved. Example, a Veteran who is payed 100% in 2006, would only have to pay back roughly $250000, but someone given the same level of disability in 2014-15 would owe over $305000. Also, the time it will take to pay back the money, will also depend on the Veterans family status. It will take a single Veteran 3 years longer to pay off the same lump sum amount, as a veteran with a wife and two children. So I still say that the simplest, and fairest, thing to do would be forget the money that was already paid out, and simply start the monthly pensions on a going forward basis.

ya as far as the calculations go it was aprox 9.25 years but that did not count for COLA and extra amounts for wife and children so the number of years the buyout is worth goes down from there after you start adding that stuff on .

not really sure the payback will be a big issue .

propat

Another thing that was mentioned was they are going to review everyones file back to 2006 which is a sign they are going to do it right. This is not a stupid government from what I have seen so far and they seem sincere. MVA'S exact words a veteran is a veteran is a veteran!!!

From what I've heard from a lot of veterans at the legion( I understand it is here say from the drunks ) but, say you've been awarded a 50 percent and it was awarded effective date Sept 2006, you got the lump sum for that amount, what will happen is they will calculate the amount of monthly pension that would have been paid from that effective date until today and subtract the lump sum paid. Also it's going to be tax free like the pension act just like the lump sum is. I know the reserves are jumping for joy and a lot of them got smoked by the NVC. Also rumour is saying that a sacrifice benefit is coming which will be a monthly payment to all veterans regardless of injury as a kinda of thank you payment for being injured. Also don't you find it a little funny, but a good idea, that the minister of veterans affairs is also the deputy minister of national defence? Could all those drunken legion rumours regarding a merger of DND and veteran affairs have some truth to them? Anyway a lot of happiness and cheer in the air, happy days are here again!

Not sure how they will manage those who have received previous lump sum payments, but they will not completely screw over them over. It would be nice to see those payments forgiven, even in part, but not holding out much hope for that.

Never posted on their site Danny as long as they do what they promised they won't here from me. All they have to do is make it retro and equivalent to old pa. Clean up VA / VRAB denials we will be bros. lol  It works out to around 7.57 years done off the old PA percentage czerv. If they denied lump sum recipients that it would cause another class action law suit that they know they could not win.

I hope that it is true. And wonder how it is going to work.
Somebody did the calculation before and came to conclusions that one time payment (at whatever rate of %) covers about 10 years of regular/former disability payments. Would that mean that for those of us who got those sh.. deals would see regular, monthly pensioned payments kick in after those 10 years? I guess that could start in 2016 for those who started to get it in 2006? Or would they say: see you later.... to bad you took the money!

Two things we know for sure of what the Liberals are bringing back an that is one , the long-form census , and two , the lifelong disability pension for VETERANS.

That's an excellent point Danny.....some comments are just not meant to be viewed on social media , with respect to our MVA we now have someone who is actually listening to what Veterans write.

True enough nothing has been done yet as it is still too early but the tone an the respect , an what the MVA is publicly saying is for sure good news for Veterans.