ODSP Accountable? You Be the Judge. Read the Directives
Thursday, December 10, 2009
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Updates added below (highlighted with red)
I read the Auditor General's Report with interest the other day, especially as it pertained to ODSP and social housing, and I must say, I agree the programs are broken. I do, however, differ as to the reasons given in the media as to why it is so broken.
I made the mistake of taking on a full-time job and leaving ODSP believing fully that the rapid reinstatement would get me back on ODSP quickly and easily, should there be a need to quit my job.
I never, in my wildest dreams would have believed that by taking advantage of the ODSP incentive to work, I would be plunged into a 5 month nightmare of trying to get back on ODSP. When I originally left work, I went out on sick leave and, because I was counting on being able to heal and return to work, I applied for EI Sick Benefits. Little did I know that by doing this, I would be exposing myself to a set of Directives and policies that would prevent me from even getting coverage for mandatory medical supplies, until the EI ran out. Had I qualified for the the special diet allowance, the coverage would have been instantly reinstated.
Below are two videos to fully describe the story followed by the pertinent directives that shows that everything was technically correct, but my source of income from the Federal government and the poorly written policies have left with not enough to survive on. I am living on a line of credit. I got well.
Some thanks for trusting the government.
I am in shock, a depression, and because the depression has been deemed situational, I cannot get treatment. I don't even have a Family Doctor. That's why I can't get the ODSP forms filled out to get the coverage for medical supplies back. The rules changed since I was last on the pension. The doctor is about to be investigated by the College of Physician's and Surgeons.
The Auditor General was right about there being a need to have more accountability with ODSP, but I beg to differ on the being to catch the cheats. I would love to go to ODSP, sign consent forms for everything that is relevant, then let them do all the work of checking me out to see if I'm eligible. I have nothing to hide. I'm just sorry the media chose to publish the stories of client abuse, instead of the stories of government abuse through the broken down policies.
The policies are written so tightly that not even the MPP's office can over-ride them to let reason prevail.
I am too determined to give up, and I'm past the point of hiding the pain. I'm sharing this story in hopes of stopping the pain that has been exacted on me, a person with a disability who already has more than my fair share of hurdles to overcome to keep pace with this life.
Enough rambling. Please watch the videos, read the proof in the directives below, then share the story far and wide and register a complaint with your MPP.
Video Story about ODSP, part 1
Video Story about ODSP, part 2
The experience has me severely depressed and swearing I will never try to work again.
In my case, the directives that apply to my case are:
Directive 4.1 Assets
Directive 5.1 - Definition and treatment of income.
Directive 5.9 - Disability Related Items and Services
Note: The following numbers are quoted from the directive just Dec 2009 but ODSP recipients were just given a raise. So far, the web site has not been updated to reflect this change so the numbers will still match. I am single and have no dependents, so the calculations are as follows:
6.1 - Basic Needs Calculation - $566.00
6.2 - Shelter Calculation (maximum allowable $454.00)
To determine income eligibility for one to return to ODSP they take the basic needs amount of $566.00 and add total shelter costs, (dollar-for-dollar for someone who is in subsidized housing), and if it is less than what you would get from ODSP, then they will deem you ineligible.
Thus my income eligibility was $336.43 (shelter) + $566.00 (Basic Needs) = $ 902.43.
The amount I got from E.I. Sick Benefits was $924.00.
This means I got $21.57 too much from E.I. to be deemed as eligible for ODSP coverage of any kind, including coverage for mandatory medical necessities. I wasn’t worried about the income because I had it from EI.
I pay on average, $78.00 per month to buy medical supplies alone. Other costs pending, and I was in need of, were wheelchair repairs, a new CPAP machine (my 7 year old machine finally died) and a CPAP mask because my 3 year old mask is being held together with hose clamps. The cost of prescriptions were not of immediate concern because I lost my doctor and no one in the After-Hours clinic would renew medication for chronic pain. Fortunately I was able to borrow a CPAP machine until I can get back on ODSP.
What really upsets me is I found out this week that I could have got back on ODSP in August if I were to qualify for the Special Diet Allowance. I don’t get why mandatory medical supplies don’t count as an expense in the income assessment, but food for those with special dietary needs, does.
What is even more disturbing is that because I applied for EI sick benefits being optimistic that the stress level would lower to the point where I could go back to work, I couldn't stop it. Full EI is cut off if you quit your job, but EI Sick Benefits can run for the full 15 weeks unless the person applies to have it stopped. This is not an option for ODSP recipients because ODSP Directive 5.1 says:
I still haven't finished describing the penalty I paid for going on EI instead of not being an optimist and applying to straight back onto ODSP. I went on sick leave because of new barriers to transportation barriers (1 nighttime and 5 daytime Access Buses had to be taken off the road after a strike) , 2 accessible stores closed downtown, close to where I live, and a shift change left me without enough time to use transit to work, then have enough time before or after work, to run errands.
When EI ran out on Nov 27th, my last reporting day, I had no way of knowing that the last payment of $462 would hit my bank account on December 1st, instead of in the same month it was received, and ODSP could then deduct it, dollar-for-dollar, from the first cheque in December. Had the stars been aligned differently so that the reporting date fell on the 26th, or the month had 31 days, then EI would have landed in my account in November, and ODSP would not have been able to take it.
When all is said and done, I will get my first ODSP cheque on Dec 21st in the amount of $580.00 and this will have to pay rent, the bills, the basic essentials, AND, the disability related medical supplies because another policy change has made it impossible for me to get the appropriate forms filled out to receive it. It used to be able to be filled out by me and the medical supplier, who in turn would send it into ODSP. Now it has to be filled in and mailed to ODSP by a doctor or some other medical professional. I have no doctor, and no easy access to a qualified medical professional, so the medical supplies will have to wait.
For example, on Oct 1st I got my last pay, the vacation pay, in the amount of $1,165.05 and immediately reported it to housing. When the amount received from EI was added to it, the rent for December was calculated as being $605.00, not the $256.00 I was expecting. When I saw this amount had been taken out of my bank account taking away the $462 from EI, plus increasing my debt by $143.00, I went hysterical. I had no recollection of housing informing me that this amount was to be taken.
But, to be fair, I had no expectation that ODSP would not be starting again on Dec 1st, as I was told it would be, in the summer. Housing says they told me about the amount in October, and I have no reason to doubt them, but considering I have 6 inches worth of paper generated from trying to be accountable to 3 different levels of government so I don’t get branded a cheat, I’m not surprised that I would have missed it. I was likely told the amount and, because I expected ODSP to be fully back, didn’t object, because I knew I would have income and if I owed the money, I was fully willing to pay it.
It was just a huge shock to expect the rent to be $256, which would leave $206 to live on, and to have $605 taken, and then later have ODSP deduct dollar-for-dollar, the paultry $462 I received as my last EI payment that happened to hit my bank account on the wrong day because of a fluke of the calendar.
I can’t believe the cruelty of the policies and programs that has caused such financial devastation and has taken such a toll on my health. I am not well anymore. I have panic attacks, I can’t sleep, I can barely remember to eat, and I have been told by the doctors at the after-hours clinic, that the depression is situational, which means they can't treat or make a referral for counseling.
Housing has two formula's to determine the amount of subsidized rent. One for ODSP recipients, and one for everyone else.
If a person is on ODSP, the rent must be capped at $109, less a $22 allowance for hydro. This means my rent will soon become $87 per month.
Compare this to the calculation for December's rent. I received $462 from EI on Dec 1st so, using housing's formula, my rent should be $94.10 if they don't count ODSP. It will be interesting to see if they will cap the rent at the $87, because I went back on ODSP.
To sum up, I am now back on ODSP, but in Dec., because of the bad timing of EI, I will get $580 to pay rent and all my expenses until end of January. I still have no coverage for my medical supplies, so this amount will have to pay for them as well.
How are these policies considered to be an incentive for someone to try to work? Had I known how much pain and suffering I would go through if the job ended, I would never have even bothered to try. I was proud that, for the first time in my life, I was earning my own income, but never again.
I should add that in the beginning,shortly after I started to work, I couldn't get ODSP to migrate me off. With all the built in incentives I was earning a few dollars too little to be migrated off. I was not willing to follow their advice and voluntarily withdraw from ODSP, so I wrote the Premier and minister of Community and Social Services to ask for help. In the end, I worked overtime to get enough hours to get the file closed. My question is why is it so hard to get OFF ODSP, and even harder to use the rapid reinstatement to get back on? This should never have happened.
I will agree with the need for more accountability, but not to catch cheats. The accountability needs to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the Provincial Government, who has not been providing for enough oversight to ensure these types of abuses come to an end.
I am a person with a disability, not an accountant or a lawyer. This case has been in the hands of a lawyer at the Community Legal Clinic since September and because of funding shortfalls in that office, the lawyer, has not had the time to help get me back on ODSP.
Please direct the investigative dollars to fix ODSP at anyone else besides the clients. We don't deserve this abuse. Our crime is developing a disability, through no fault of our own.
Please read my other Blogs:
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com
I read the Auditor General's Report with interest the other day, especially as it pertained to ODSP and social housing, and I must say, I agree the programs are broken. I do, however, differ as to the reasons given in the media as to why it is so broken.
I made the mistake of taking on a full-time job and leaving ODSP believing fully that the rapid reinstatement would get me back on ODSP quickly and easily, should there be a need to quit my job.
I never, in my wildest dreams would have believed that by taking advantage of the ODSP incentive to work, I would be plunged into a 5 month nightmare of trying to get back on ODSP. When I originally left work, I went out on sick leave and, because I was counting on being able to heal and return to work, I applied for EI Sick Benefits. Little did I know that by doing this, I would be exposing myself to a set of Directives and policies that would prevent me from even getting coverage for mandatory medical supplies, until the EI ran out. Had I qualified for the the special diet allowance, the coverage would have been instantly reinstated.
Below are two videos to fully describe the story followed by the pertinent directives that shows that everything was technically correct, but my source of income from the Federal government and the poorly written policies have left with not enough to survive on. I am living on a line of credit. I got well.
Some thanks for trusting the government.
I am in shock, a depression, and because the depression has been deemed situational, I cannot get treatment. I don't even have a Family Doctor. That's why I can't get the ODSP forms filled out to get the coverage for medical supplies back. The rules changed since I was last on the pension. The doctor is about to be investigated by the College of Physician's and Surgeons.
The Auditor General was right about there being a need to have more accountability with ODSP, but I beg to differ on the being to catch the cheats. I would love to go to ODSP, sign consent forms for everything that is relevant, then let them do all the work of checking me out to see if I'm eligible. I have nothing to hide. I'm just sorry the media chose to publish the stories of client abuse, instead of the stories of government abuse through the broken down policies.
The policies are written so tightly that not even the MPP's office can over-ride them to let reason prevail.
I am too determined to give up, and I'm past the point of hiding the pain. I'm sharing this story in hopes of stopping the pain that has been exacted on me, a person with a disability who already has more than my fair share of hurdles to overcome to keep pace with this life.
Enough rambling. Please watch the videos, read the proof in the directives below, then share the story far and wide and register a complaint with your MPP.
Video Story about ODSP, part 1
Video Story about ODSP, part 2
The experience has me severely depressed and swearing I will never try to work again.
In my case, the directives that apply to my case are:
Directive 4.1 Assets
- I have none... I took an income loss to start working full time so I could leave ODSP behind. The health benefits offset the impact of less money.
Directive 5.1 - Definition and treatment of income.
- My sole source of income after having to quit my job due to lack of disability accommodations is EI sick benefits. I fully expected a line of reason would prevail so I could lower my stress and return to work
Directive 5.9 - Disability Related Items and Services
- I definitely qualify for these - I have an indwelling catheter and a power wheelchair, among other things... but this directive is the one that is most disturbing. Because my source of income was EI sick benefits, I could not give them proof that my medical expenses exceed the $21.57 that was deeming me ineligible for ODSP.
Note: The following numbers are quoted from the directive just Dec 2009 but ODSP recipients were just given a raise. So far, the web site has not been updated to reflect this change so the numbers will still match. I am single and have no dependents, so the calculations are as follows:
6.1 - Basic Needs Calculation - $566.00
6.2 - Shelter Calculation (maximum allowable $454.00)
To determine income eligibility for one to return to ODSP they take the basic needs amount of $566.00 and add total shelter costs, (dollar-for-dollar for someone who is in subsidized housing), and if it is less than what you would get from ODSP, then they will deem you ineligible.
Thus my income eligibility was $336.43 (shelter) + $566.00 (Basic Needs) = $ 902.43.
The amount I got from E.I. Sick Benefits was $924.00.
This means I got $21.57 too much from E.I. to be deemed as eligible for ODSP coverage of any kind, including coverage for mandatory medical necessities. I wasn’t worried about the income because I had it from EI.
I pay on average, $78.00 per month to buy medical supplies alone. Other costs pending, and I was in need of, were wheelchair repairs, a new CPAP machine (my 7 year old machine finally died) and a CPAP mask because my 3 year old mask is being held together with hose clamps. The cost of prescriptions were not of immediate concern because I lost my doctor and no one in the After-Hours clinic would renew medication for chronic pain. Fortunately I was able to borrow a CPAP machine until I can get back on ODSP.
What really upsets me is I found out this week that I could have got back on ODSP in August if I were to qualify for the Special Diet Allowance. I don’t get why mandatory medical supplies don’t count as an expense in the income assessment, but food for those with special dietary needs, does.
What is even more disturbing is that because I applied for EI sick benefits being optimistic that the stress level would lower to the point where I could go back to work, I couldn't stop it. Full EI is cut off if you quit your job, but EI Sick Benefits can run for the full 15 weeks unless the person applies to have it stopped. This is not an option for ODSP recipients because ODSP Directive 5.1 says:
“All reasonable efforts must be made to obtain any financial resources that a member of the benefit unit may be entitled to receive. Failure to make reasonable efforts to secure available income may result in refusal or reduction of income support. “If I applied to stop EI so I could go back on ODSP and get enough income to pay for my disability related medical supplies, I could have been permanently cut off ODSP. This policy left me with no choice but to let the EI sick benefits run out on November 28th, 15 weeks after I optimistically applied for it hoping that reason would prevail, the stress would lower, and I could go back to work.
I still haven't finished describing the penalty I paid for going on EI instead of not being an optimist and applying to straight back onto ODSP. I went on sick leave because of new barriers to transportation barriers (1 nighttime and 5 daytime Access Buses had to be taken off the road after a strike) , 2 accessible stores closed downtown, close to where I live, and a shift change left me without enough time to use transit to work, then have enough time before or after work, to run errands.
When EI ran out on Nov 27th, my last reporting day, I had no way of knowing that the last payment of $462 would hit my bank account on December 1st, instead of in the same month it was received, and ODSP could then deduct it, dollar-for-dollar, from the first cheque in December. Had the stars been aligned differently so that the reporting date fell on the 26th, or the month had 31 days, then EI would have landed in my account in November, and ODSP would not have been able to take it.
When all is said and done, I will get my first ODSP cheque on Dec 21st in the amount of $580.00 and this will have to pay rent, the bills, the basic essentials, AND, the disability related medical supplies because another policy change has made it impossible for me to get the appropriate forms filled out to receive it. It used to be able to be filled out by me and the medical supplier, who in turn would send it into ODSP. Now it has to be filled in and mailed to ODSP by a doctor or some other medical professional. I have no doctor, and no easy access to a qualified medical professional, so the medical supplies will have to wait.
Update December 23, 2009Now we get to subsidized housing and their formula, also set out by the provincial government. Under the Social Housing Act, rent for an ODSP recipient must be capped at $109, less an allowance for hydro. If the income comes from another source, the formula is different and the rent will cost more. The act was also recently changed to allow income reported in one month, to be reflected in a rent adjustment 2 months hence, instead of 1. This recent change has resulted in me being plunged into an even greater debt because of conflicting timelines set out in other outside policies.
I pointed out the irony of ODSP taking the last amount from E.I. in the income review and specifically requested that she ask her supervisor if I could keep the money. Thankfully reason prevailed and ODSP reversed their decision to claw back the $462.00. I will now have enough to live on.
I got a new doctor in Cobourg on Dec. 21st and he filled out the medical. I will now get coverage for medical supplies.
For example, on Oct 1st I got my last pay, the vacation pay, in the amount of $1,165.05 and immediately reported it to housing. When the amount received from EI was added to it, the rent for December was calculated as being $605.00, not the $256.00 I was expecting. When I saw this amount had been taken out of my bank account taking away the $462 from EI, plus increasing my debt by $143.00, I went hysterical. I had no recollection of housing informing me that this amount was to be taken.
But, to be fair, I had no expectation that ODSP would not be starting again on Dec 1st, as I was told it would be, in the summer. Housing says they told me about the amount in October, and I have no reason to doubt them, but considering I have 6 inches worth of paper generated from trying to be accountable to 3 different levels of government so I don’t get branded a cheat, I’m not surprised that I would have missed it. I was likely told the amount and, because I expected ODSP to be fully back, didn’t object, because I knew I would have income and if I owed the money, I was fully willing to pay it.
It was just a huge shock to expect the rent to be $256, which would leave $206 to live on, and to have $605 taken, and then later have ODSP deduct dollar-for-dollar, the paultry $462 I received as my last EI payment that happened to hit my bank account on the wrong day because of a fluke of the calendar.
I can’t believe the cruelty of the policies and programs that has caused such financial devastation and has taken such a toll on my health. I am not well anymore. I have panic attacks, I can’t sleep, I can barely remember to eat, and I have been told by the doctors at the after-hours clinic, that the depression is situational, which means they can't treat or make a referral for counseling.
Housing has two formula's to determine the amount of subsidized rent. One for ODSP recipients, and one for everyone else.
If a person is on ODSP, the rent must be capped at $109, less a $22 allowance for hydro. This means my rent will soon become $87 per month.
Compare this to the calculation for December's rent. I received $462 from EI on Dec 1st so, using housing's formula, my rent should be $94.10 if they don't count ODSP. It will be interesting to see if they will cap the rent at the $87, because I went back on ODSP.
To sum up, I am now back on ODSP, but in Dec., because of the bad timing of EI, I will get $580 to pay rent and all my expenses until end of January. I still have no coverage for my medical supplies, so this amount will have to pay for them as well.
How are these policies considered to be an incentive for someone to try to work? Had I known how much pain and suffering I would go through if the job ended, I would never have even bothered to try. I was proud that, for the first time in my life, I was earning my own income, but never again.
I should add that in the beginning,shortly after I started to work, I couldn't get ODSP to migrate me off. With all the built in incentives I was earning a few dollars too little to be migrated off. I was not willing to follow their advice and voluntarily withdraw from ODSP, so I wrote the Premier and minister of Community and Social Services to ask for help. In the end, I worked overtime to get enough hours to get the file closed. My question is why is it so hard to get OFF ODSP, and even harder to use the rapid reinstatement to get back on? This should never have happened.
I will agree with the need for more accountability, but not to catch cheats. The accountability needs to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the Provincial Government, who has not been providing for enough oversight to ensure these types of abuses come to an end.
I am a person with a disability, not an accountant or a lawyer. This case has been in the hands of a lawyer at the Community Legal Clinic since September and because of funding shortfalls in that office, the lawyer, has not had the time to help get me back on ODSP.
Please direct the investigative dollars to fix ODSP at anyone else besides the clients. We don't deserve this abuse. Our crime is developing a disability, through no fault of our own.
Update December 21, 2009
The following will show the societal cost of the poorly written ODSP disability income support program.
I just got home from the hospital yesterday. I was in for 9 days for stress related illnesses that were caused by the hassles of trying to get back on ODSP, fixing issues related to social housing, losing my doctor, and his walking leading to the eventual loss of my job.
I have a situational depression, which no medication can treat, and a very high blood pressure (179/135).
All they did was basically keep me in hospital to give me a stress busting rest because, without a family doctor, they can't even treat the high blood pressure and medications won't work for a situational depression.
This got me to thinking about doing a cost benefit analysis to compare the cost of medical coverage through ODSP vs a 9-day hospital stay to relieve the stress that could very well lead to a stroke, if I'm not careful.
I found a document online that gives the cost for being an inpatient in the various hospitals around the province*, so when I looked up Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston, I saw it cost $802 per day. That works out to a total of $7,218.
When I counted up the medical supply costs, that I was hoping to get from ODSP while I let the EI sick benefit coverage run out, I figure it would have cost approximately $80 per month, or $400 for 5 months, plus $22 for a prescription for one antibiotic. The PRN (take-as-needed) pain meds were cut off, when the doctor walked. There would have been a cost for the wheelchair repairs as well, but seeing as I still can't afford to get them done, I have no idea what the cost would have been.
Even still, the point has been made. If I had been given the $422 in medical benefit coverage back in August, the taxpayer could have saved $6,796 in taxes. (the hospital stay minus the cost of medical supplies).
I wonder how the taxpayer would feel if they knew this little tidbit, that I came up with after trying to play their cost-benefit analysis game?
Shocking, eh?
* (Source: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/ohip/bulletins/na_30/na_30_att_20080417_att1.pdf)
Please read my other Blogs:
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com
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