CPP disability claims delayed by massive backlog, auditor finds

[mentalfloss]

CPP disability claims delayed by massive backlog, auditor finds

Auditor General Michael Ferguson's latest report lays bare massive delays processing Canada Pension Plan disability payments that have left some of the most vulnerable Canadians waiting years for benefits.

In his annual fall report released Tuesday, the auditor general uncovered an average processing delay of 884 days that has left Canadians with severe and prolonged disabilities — such as nervous and circulatory diseases, cancers and mental illness, among others — waiting for a crucial source of income.

"These are Canadian workers. These are people who have worked in the Canadian workforce and they made their contributions to the CPP, and this is one of the benefits that they expect to be there when they need it," Ferguson said Tuesday.

"The department needs to treat it as a service for people and make the whole system better."

The auditor general also found Shared Services Canada is also unable to demonstrate any cost savings from its much-delayed streamlining of government information technology services.

CPP disability claims delayed by massive backlog, auditor finds - Politics - CBC News

 

[tay]

It worked as the Harper CONs wanted it to, but now it's up to the Trudeau Libs to fix it asap........ the Cons also made it harder to collect E.I. benefits, and tried to shame the unemployed.......

CPP program a 'complete disaster'

The Social Security Tribunal of Canada, created by the former Conservative government following the 2012 federal budget, was tasked with processing disability claims under the CPP, a program the vast majority of working Canadians contribute to through their paycheques.

But the backlog of cases waiting for an appeal has nearly doubled since the tribunal's creation, from 6,585 cases at its creation to 10,871 by December 2014.

A process designed by the former Harper government to be more timely and efficient is anything but, the auditor general found, with 38 per cent of people waiting over a year for their appeals just to be heard by the tribunal.

This outcome is the exact opposite of what former Conservative minister Diane Finley had expected when she implemented these changes to the tribunal in 2012. Finley told CBC News at the time that the new process would be faster and eliminate overlap.

CPP disability claims delayed by massive backlog, auditor finds - Politics - CBC News