Veteran tired of government making him prove he lost his legs

[polly7]

Angela Mulholland, Staff writer
@AngeMulholland

Published Monday, February 9, 2015 8:51AM EST
Last Updated Monday, February 9, 2015 12:03PM EST

Retired Master Cpl. Paul Franklin, who lost both legs in in Afghanistan, says every year he has to prove to Veterans Affairs that he still has no legs and needs a wheelchair. Now, he’s waging a fight against the department on behalf of all veterans.

Franklin says his fight with Veterans Affairs is typical of so many of the bureaucratic battles that thousands of injured veterans have with the department, and he wants them to end.

Franklin lost both his legs in a January 2006 suicide bombing. After his injury, he had no trouble receiving help from the Department of National Defence, he says. But things went downhill when he chose to retire from the Canadian Forces.

Master Cpl. (retired) Paul Franklin speaks to Canada AM from CTV studios in Edmonton on Monday, Feb. 9. 2015.
"It's been an ongoing battle ever since my retirement in 2009," he told CTV's Canada AM from Edmonton.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/veteran-tired-of-government-making-him-prove-he-lost-his-legs-1.2227180

[daleanime]

1. Sad thing is, I believe this.....

Could easily is it happening.

[Uben]

2. I can't even convince the government I have no money.....

....and they keep on asking for some. Must be something in the water in D.C.

[polly7]

3. LOL. Incompetence everywhere! nt.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. It's not incompetence.

It is being overwhelmed by the amount of scamming that takes place, even among retired military officers. I live in Florida where there are many and it breaks my heart every time they use their military service to justify the heinous good ole boy tactics that are common around here. Military officers who understand honor and esprit de corps would never get involved with such shenanigans, which is why they need to be protected from the ones who have served dishonorably in their community service positions.

i.e. Think of Petraeus. The problem is bigger than most people realize. Assumed god-complexes are common in retirement communities in Florida.

[polly7]

8. This person has no legs.

He had no problem getting benefits until he left the Canadian Forces. Now, he has to go through so much red tape with Veterans Affairs that he's working to solve these problems for all 700,000 injured veterans to make their lives easier.

Imagine this, for a man with no legs: "Franklin has even had his wheelchair taken away from him twice because of disputes over which department should pay for it and which doctor's notes were needed.

I think VAC is quite capable of handling their medical issues without this kind of incompetence. And I don't believe many veterans here have god-complexes, they just want help to live as normal a life as possible.


With our health-care system, my doctor just has to bring up my medical info online and knows my history instantly. It's just a matter of minutes before he can get it and any new development to a specialist. VAC obviously has the same sort of system ....... why are people like Franklin having to fight for things they obviously need? Yes, it is incompetence.

(I was joking with Uben, I didn't realize he wasn't aware this happened in Canada).

[Baitball Blogger]

9. He has my sympathy and support.

They need to have a hearing between the vets and VA administrators to determine how to get into the system without constantly being harassed.

I agree most veterans do not have god-complexes. But I am pointing out that it only takes a few bad apples to throw an underfunded, overtaxed system out of whack.

Lots of good, good people are having their lives diminished because the leadership can't seem to give them the priority they deserve. Maybe it has something to do with an organization that puts too much emphasis on a chain of command? Once retired, injured vets should have the same status regardless of position. No one should feel like they have to pull rank. But that kind of thing does happen.

I see it way too often in our residential communities. Retired officers who take in hefty pensions, don't think it's enough. And I don't fault them for the money they receive. I fault them because they seem to want to manifest their positions in ways that are not civilly acceptable. Most of the ones that I have encountered are closely aligned with the Republican party. I don't think that's an coincidence.

[polly7]

10. That could be a small part of it, I'm not sure, but

the new minister of veterans affairs, Erin O'Toole, has "responded to Franklin's blog post with a post of his own, in which he writes that he agrees that it is not right that veterans are running into administrative hurdles."

"O'Toole says when these battles worsen the troubles for injured vets, "there is something seriously wrong because everything VAC is structured to do is to help ease the burden of transition for a veteran after their service injury."

"O'Toole added that he is committed to reducing the administrative burden of veterans and to reducing administrative processing times."

Franklin says he wants to see more from the minister. He wants a resolution to the ongoing lawsuits between veterans and the federal government. And he wants to see the new veterans charter scrapped, which ended the monthly pension for disabled veterans in favour of a lump-sum payment.

[jehop61]

4. I believe

this person is in the Canadian military. "Blame Canada"

[djean111]

5. Watch - someone, somewhere, will blame this on universal health care.

While our own veterans are treated just as shabbily.

[shenmue]

6. Good grief

[Joe Shlabotnik]

11. Damn,

Too bad a good lawyer costs an arm and leg these days.

[polly7]

15. .......

[QuebecYank]

12. They'll harass this poor man to death.

You're better off with diapered monkeys at some of these government jobs!

[alcina]

13. Rick Mercer's rant about this

http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/videos/clips/ricks-rant-fighting-veterans

But I'm not absolutely certain it's the government healthcare system that's doing this. I was recently talking with a rehab doctor who does a lot of work with veterans, and he told me that he bills Blue Cross for his services. He said that because veterans' healthcare is coordinated federally, it can't go through OHIP or the other provincial plans. I haven't verified this,* but I figure the doctor knew who was paying the bills. And if this is correct, then I'm not the least bit surprised that Blue Cross would be making these absurd demands on the veterans. After all, their standard MO is deny, deny, deny.

Of course, even if it's Blue Cross doing the dirty work, they're stilling doing it at the behest of this government. And by "this government," I mean Harper's mean-spirited thugs.

*OK. Kinda verified it:
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/services/health/treatment-benefits/info-providers
Google is my friend(TM)

[polly7]

14. Thanks, alcina.

Very interesting.

[alcina]

16. You're most welcome, polly7