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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by NightOwl@lemmy.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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[-] Perhapsjustsniffit@lemmy.ca 26 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Good. They should be questioning harder. As someone who is disabled and in this vulnerable group my question is this. If the Government wants me to exist why am I expected to live on less than $12000/year? That's less than half of extreme poverty for a single person in my province. Yet this is my sole income.

I am not permitted, even if I could, to work or volunteer for more than 10h/week or make more than $6900/year or I lose my CPP. I do not qualify for the disability tax credit because I am not disabled in the correct way yet I am deemed unfit for work by multiple doctors and the CPP office due to physical disability from cancer. I have 3 elementary aged kids and worked from age 14 to 18 part time and 18 to 42 full time when I got really sick and became disabled. I paid taxes and saved money. I spent our life savings surviving cancer 400kms from my home at the nearest hospital that could treat me and spent a small amount building a massive garden and greenhouse on land donated to us by family.

I served my fellow man as a paramedic for 15 years as well as other positions in different fields. Those afforded me no "pension" because paramedicine is a highly skilled yet low paying job with little to no benefits at my time of employment. I pay everything out of pocket because I do not have medical, dental or eye care coverage. I grow as much food as I can so my kids don't starve because I can't afford to buy it. I ignore my own health to keep them fed and housed. If I am "caught" or turned in for doing physical work at home regardless of my health I will likely lose my CPP. I have to do it though, I have no choice. If we hadn't been literally given this house we would be homeless. If we didn't raise food we would be very hungry. If we didn't have family supporting us I'm not sure where we would be but we would certainly be a larger demand on the system than we are now.

Yet I can qualify for MAID easily.

They want us dead.

Question it.

[-] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Honest question: I thought Canadian healthcare is subsidized? How did you go through your entire life's savings from illness? And why don't you now have medial, dental, or vision coverage? This totally sounds like American healthcare, but I'm surprised to hear it in a Canadian context.

And I'm no way doubting you, just to be clear. I was just wondering if you could educate my ignorant, dumb ass.

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 days ago

The other replies spell some of it out, but there are some things I should note so you have a broader picture.

Some provinces have pharmacare so after a max deductable (based on income) your medicines are free. If you are disabled you can also apply for a provincial form that makes all medicines free (no max starting deductable)

If you have a provincial disability designation you can get dental, eyeware, drugs, therapy, devices needed covered by a special provincial health insurance. The person you asked may not have been aware of this, or they live in a province that has a higher threshokd of what constitutes disability. (The reason I say unaware is their statement about $6800 max earnings is not correct) The only downside is you don't have a list of what is covered, you have to submit the cost or try for preapproval. Why it is a secret about what is covered is a mystery...I can only assume to stop people reading through and taking advantage of free stuff??

If you have cancer and out of work their is a cancer fund that supplements your income. However they look at previous years earnings to determine eligibility, so if you were healthy then suddenly got sick, rather than slow decline in earnings, you have no funding available because of high amount on last tax return. You would have to wait till the following year when you file a low income tax return to get help.

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this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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