Social Policy in Ontario

Holding on to disability benefits an unfair struggle

Posted on May 29, 2015 in Social Security Delivery System

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TheStar.com – Opinion/Commentary – Ontario’s overcomplicated disability review process is making it all but impossible for the most vulnerable to keep needed benefits.
May 28 2015.   By: Ritika Goel

They say the character of a society is judged by how we treat the most vulnerable amongst us. Those who live with a disability, whether physical or mental, that restricts their ability to work to support themselves and their families fall squarely into this group. The purpose of the Ontario Disability Support Program is to provide income to these individuals so they can survive. It’s not a lot of money, and the benefits are notoriously difficult to obtain, but it serves as a crucial lifeline for many people in this province.

But even this is now being threatened for countless people by a overcomplicated bureaucratic process of medical reviews that is leaving many in the lurch.

Mark is one of my patients who relies on these benefits to survive. He’s a middle-aged man who has had a very tough life. A childhood of trauma and abuse has left him battling mental health issues and addictions, and he has spent the last decade bouncing in and out of shelters, housing and hospitals. Mark, very appropriately, receives disability benefits, and just like most of my patients in his situation, would happily work to support himself if he could, but he can’t.

A few months ago, Mark brought me an application for a disability review. He is one of the 600 people a month for whom the government is conducting such reviews. For me, it was a no-brainer that Mark needed to keep his benefits. Unfortunately, in order to prove that, I had to complete an arduous 21-page application form identical to the original application he went through, and spend time gathering supplemental documentation and compiling it, which took several hours.

The time spent upfront can hopefully keep him from getting denied, which one in four people going through the review process are. If denied, he would then have to obtain a lawyer and go through an appeal, all of which is difficult to do for someone as unwell as he is. That’s an awful lot of wasted time and money in the health and legal system, as well as undue anxiety for someone living a very difficult life, to simply keep him on needed benefits for which he has already been approved.

Sadly, Mark is one of the lucky ones. He has a steady doctor who is willing to complete the application forms, and is familiar with the system. Many individuals with severe mental health issues or addictions or who are homeless have transient lives and therefore transient relationships with health-care providers. This means that disability review applications getting mailed to old addresses may never reach individuals who could then be cut off from benefits. It means people may no longer have the same primary care provider who completed the original application, and may not be able to find someone who knows them well enough or is willing to complete the new one. Many that do find someone to complete the forms are denied and have to go through an appeal.

The current process, instead of simply assessing the situation of people on disability benefits, seems most likely to kick off those who are most unwell and unable to navigate the system.

The province has built up a backlog of about 60,000 individuals for which they plan to do such reviews. The original plan was to speed up review efforts, which was causing grave concern among people with disabilities, as well as the health and legal sector. Thankfully, the province has announced that they will rethink the process, but in the meantime, they continue to send out 600 applications a month. I shudder to think how many people who rely on these benefits are losing them due to changed addresses, lack of connection to health providers or inability to arrange an appeal due to their illness.

A lot needs to be changed about our disability welfare system. For now, let us at least put on hold a process that is most likely to victimize the most vulnerable. The province must commit to designing a process that is simpler and fairer, such as a simple letter or one-page form that allows providers to give an update on the individual’s condition. This would decrease the costs and burden on the health and legal systems, and better protect those who need ongoing benefits. As well, great pains must be taken to ensure that no one is cut off from benefits due to a simple misunderstanding such as a change in address.

We cannot gain cost savings on the backs of the most vulnerable amongst us, simply because the system is set up for them to fail. That is not the society that I want to live in, and I know we can do better.

Ritika Goel is a family physician with the Inner City Health Associates in Toronto and a member of Health Providers Against Poverty.

< http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/05/28/holding-on-to-disability-benefits-an-unfair-struggle.html >

Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living

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