'Little Guy' Wins Fight With Bureaucracy

Northern Life
June 8, 2006

BY TAMARA BELKOV

It only took 10 weeks, but it’s time to chalk-one-up for the little guy.

With his June pension cheque in hand and his special diet and transportation supplements reinstated, Raymond Boucher says he’s back on his medical diet, taking his medications and has begun a new treatment schedule in preparation for surgery in mid-June.

Spokesperson for the Hunger Organizing Committee and member of the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty, Clarissa Lassaline, says she is happy for Boucher.

“It’s a bit of a victory. Raymond got the full amount for his diet supplement and they made it retroactive to February.

We’re proud of our efforts on his behalf. It’s a shame he had to go about it in the way that he did...when you have to fight that hard for something that shouldn’t have been cut back in the first place.”

Diabetic and waiting to undergo dialysis, the 54-year-old Sudbury resident, who is too ill to work, had stopped taking medication and refused medical treatment in mid-March to protest what he saw as unfair treatment by the Ontario Disability Pension (ODSP).

Boucher had been receiving a special diet supplement of $147 a month from ODSP for several years. His April cheque was less than he normally received.

The $42 transportation supplement, which helps him get to his medical appointments was cut off, and his diet supplement was reduced to $97 without explanation.

With barely any reading and writing skills, Boucher was overwhelmed by government bureaucracy and in the middle of a run-around with ODSPs staff and doctors.

Gary Kinsman from the Hunger Clinic Organizing Committee reviewed Boucher’s files and sent a letter to ODSP asking it re-examine the case.

With no response from ODSP, Kinsman and supporters met in Memorial Park May 10 and made their way to the ODSP office to demand the government re-examine Boucher’s situation.

After a 90-minute wait, the group met with Boucher’s caseworker who agreed to accept yet another special diet form from Boucher’s medical team.

Without admitting responsibility for the confusing letters and forms, ODSP accepted the special diet supplement request form filled out by a local dietitian.

The dietitian was able to decipher the form, which is something neither Boucher’s doctor nor his specialist at the Sudbury Regional Hospital had been able to do.

“I know I could have never done it on my own. I was falling apart,” Boucher says.

He says a special thanks is owed to Dawn, in MPP Rick Bartolucci’s constituency office. According to Boucher, she helped him to get his transportation supplement reinstated.

Previous Update:

ODSP Arbitrarily Cuts the Special Diet of Sudbury Man Living With Disabilities

May 1, 2006

In response to the Ontario Disability Support Program arbitrarily cutting the Special Diet supplement of ODSP recipient Raymond Boucher from $147 to $96 on Feb. 17th of this year the Hunger Clinic Organizing Committee has written to Denis Paradis of ODSP (see attached letter) demanding that the $147 be reinstated for a period of at least 90 days following the arbitrary decision to cut this supplement.

The Liberal provincial government last November slashed the Special Diet policy making it much more difficult for people on ODSP and Ontario Works to receive the supplement which is intended to allow extra funds for people on social assistance to purchase nutritious foods for themselves and their families. Anti-poverty and social justice activists across the province are calling for the old policy to be re-instated. This was a major issue in Sara Anderson's recent hunger strike.

In Raymond Boucher's case ODSP has violated its own policies in two respects. Firstly, an arbitrary decision was made by ODSP on Feb. 17th without even sending the new Special Diet form to Raymond Boucher. Raymond Boucher according to ODSP policy is supposed to have 90 days after being sent the new form to get it filled out by a medical professional and to get it back to ODSP.

Secondly, Raymond Boucher did not even receive the new Special Diet form until April 13th, 2006. The Hunger Clinic Organizing Committee is demanding that ODSP correct these mistakes immediately since they are having a major and real impact in Raymond Boucher's life.

For more information on Raymond Boucher's situation see the attached article from Northern Life by Tamara Belkov.

For more information contact Gary Kinsman at 670-1420.
HUNGER CLINIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

May 1, 2006

Dear Denis Paradis, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Provincial Building, Sudbury:

We have been approached by Raymond Boucher and are supporting him in his struggle to have his Special Diet Supplement raised back to where it was before it was arbitrarily cut on Feb. 17th, 2006. It is our understanding (and the documents we have examined bear this out) that as of Feb. 17th Raymond's Special Diet amount was arbitrarily cut back from $147 to $96 a month. This was prior to Raymond receiving a new Special Diet form. Under ODSP policy a recipient of the Special Diet Supplement has 90 days after they receive the new form to get a medical professional to fill out the new form and to get it back to ODSP.

This ODSP policy was violated in Raymond's case and without any consultation with him his Special Diet amount was arbitrarily cut back by ODSP to $96 a month. It is entirely unclear how the new lower amount of the Special Dietary Supplement was arrived at since no medical professional was asked to fill out the new form. Raymond Boucher did not receive the new Special Diet form until April 13th, 2006.

Following ODSP policy we are therefore demanding that Raymond Boucher's Special Diet Supplement be raised back to $147 for at least the period of 90 days following February 17th. If the amount of Raymond Boucher's Special Diet is not remedied by Friday May 5th we will be forced to take further steps to make this a public and political issue.

Yours sincerely,

Gary Kinsman, for the Hunger Clinic Organizing Committee
670-1420

cc: Sudbury Media, MPP Rick Bartolucci, MPP Shelley Martel, the Sudbury Community Legal Clinic.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Northern Life

Sudbury man protests ODSP

A local man sick and tired of getting the runaround, stopped taking his prescription medications March 21, to protest, what he calls unfair treatment by the Sudbury office of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

ODSP is the provincial agency assigned to administer financial aid, medical benefits and assistance to the physically and mentally disabled. "I'm falling apart off medication," said Raymond Boucher. “But, I have to do something to protest the way they are treating me."

Living from one disability pension cheque to the next, Boucher said his troubles began when his April pension cheque arrived. He says he became concerned when he opened the envelope and noticed ODSP had unexpectedly reduced the amount he normally receives.

"They didn't tell me they'd taken something off, they said they added $96, but they didn't," he claims referring to a letter sent to him by ODSP. When Boucher contacted the Sudbury office of ODSP for help in straightening out the mess, he says he received the runaround. Boucher states that March 21, a senior manager at ODSP told him that he (Boucher), "was not worthy of help" and to "call his MPP's office to complain, to stop calling the ODSP office."

Referring to his situation as life-or-death, Boucher admits to having used "cocky" language over the phone. "Ya, I got upset. I''m sacred... what can I say. If they do this to me now, treat me like this, how will it be when I''m stuck to a (dialysis) machine and can't fight for myself."

Boucher says he was told by ODSP that his physician changed his diagnosis and that he was no longer entitled to as large a supplement for food. He has since returned to ODSP to collect the forms to resubmit for a nutritional supplement and confirm his doctor's had not recommended a change to his diet.

ODSP staff state that they never comment on a person's case citing the access to information laws that govern an individuals right to privacy. According to staff at ODSP Sudbury, in general, people on disability pension, rely on supplements that follow provincial guidelines and are calculated by staff.

While prescription medications are paid for by ODSP, a pensioner may be reimbursed for the cost of hiring an aide to escort them to medical appointments and the cost of transportation and parking. The province also provides financial assistance in the form of a supplement of up to $250 per month for additional, nutritious foods as outlined in its guidelines.

The nutritional supplement is only provided if: a client applies for it; takes a form to their doctor; the doctor fills out the form correctly, including the diagnosis, and submits it to ODSP; and if the illness listed qualifies under ODSP guidelines as warranting a nutritious diet.

The cost of buying the food is also pre-calculated. Staff at ODSP says, the province estimates what food items cost. Some items, that were once on the list of nutritious foods, like bottled water, are no longer.

Boucher is asking that his supplement be restored to its previous level of $147, a difference of $51 a month. Boucher reports that he was to start dialysis as soon as possible, but now that he is no longer on his diet and has chosen to refuse his medication in protest, he may not be well enough to undergo the pre-dialysis surgical procedures that have been scheduled for June.

"My doctor wants to put me on dialysis and is trying to help keep me alive. What's the point if ODSP is going let me die of starvation?"

- Tamara Belkov