X-mo-1979 said:
I'm sorry if this belongs somewhere else.I took a look and couldnt find anything.
Can someone please enlighten me as to why a monthly pension for injury was taken away from soldiers?At first I thought it was maybe a new "better"system.However getting a 3000 dollar check for a busted beyond leg...and no other payments (unless the condition worsens)just does not seem right or fair to me.A 500 dollar tax free check could aid my family,like when I transition to civilian life and have to take a day off here and there due to this injury which I plaguing my life.
Wasnt pensions a sort of gratitude to vet's for being injured.A bit of a income to assist them?Telling me my leg is damaged 5 % and giving me a little sum and a pat on the head doesnt sit well with me at all.Is there something I'm missing here?
IMO, the current policy shouldn't be based on when the claimant filed the claim, but should be when the initial injury happened.
In my case, I was injured on a jump in '92 and had chronic lower pain from the second I thundered into the DZ, but I didn't file a claim until Sept '05 when I heard about the upcoming changes to the Charter. I had been VERY reluctant to even speak to VAC about my injury, as I had heard too many stories of members who had filed, been given a disability pension and then found themselves on the release ramp. I wanted to serve first and foremost so...for 13 years I carried on. In Nov '04, the results from my MRI showed some substantial injury that had gone untreated all those years. I was still not considering talking to VAC. Now, I am glad I did.
I had never understood though, how VAC/DVA based their "your pension is effective on the date you filed your claim" policy vice the date the injury happened (supporting documents would be critical for this). Now I feel even more strongly about this point; members who were injured *before* the new Charter was adopted should (IMO) fall under/be grandfathered to the old charter for payment of disability pensions for injuries incurred during military service. The policy should tie back to the date of injury, NOT the date of application.
I have to say IMO the change was a way of saving money in the long run, while giving the injured member more $ immediately, which looks good on paper but doesn't benefit the injured mbr in the long run, but I don't know enough about the policy documents/implementation to have more than just that, my opinion.
My application process seems to be the reverse of what you guys are experiencing, but I have to say it was because of documentation. I submitted copies of my CF-98 that was properly filled out and signed, along with copies of my MRI report from Nov '04 and a few other selected documents that left no question as to where I was, when it was and if it was directly related to military service. I mailed my claim application in Sept '05, received my "you have a valid claim" letter from VAC dated 31 Oct 05, and I was in to see the District MO (Hfx Region) in Jan '06. I attribute the speed of this to the amount of documents I was able to submit with my claim application.
I don't think *we* will be able to change the Charter and its...ummm....changes to pensioners but I think the argument that the claimant should fall under the Charter that existed at the time of injury is one that *we* might be able to win.
