Disability benefits are financial payments provided to individuals who have a service-related disability. Disability benefits consist of both disability pensions and disability awards Footnote 1. The Pension Act of 1919 provides the framework for the disability pension which is a tax-free monthly payment, with the amount of the payment based on the extent to which the Veteran’s diagnosed medical disability is related to their service. The disability award, established in 2006 as part of the Veterans Well-being Act, provides members and Veterans with a tax-free monetary award for an injury or illness resulting from military service. The amount of the award will depend on the degree the disability is related to service and the severity of the disability.
Disability benefit workload is generated by work items in Client Service Delivery Network (CSDN), and work items are either generated by the system or created by staff. Tracking work items measure the time elapsed between steps. The four main steps in the processing of disability benefits applications include the following:
- Intake: Applications for disability benefits are sent via My VAC Account or are mailed and scanned at a central facility. Staff in the field register the application in CSDN. They verify the applications are complete and then forward, via a work item, to the next step, “claims preparation”.
- Claims preparation: Staff review the claims and flag pertinent information for the adjudicators. If additional information is required, follow up is done. Once the application is ready, it is forwarded via work item to the next step, “adjudication”.
- Adjudication: Staff review the claim and make a determination on the application. Once a decision is made, the application is forwarded via work item to the next step, “processing and payment”.
- Processing and Payment: The decision is entered into CSDN. If the decision is favourable, the application is forwarded for payment. If the application is unfavourable, then the decision is communicated to the applicant.
Data is entered by staff in CSDN, the operational database. The data is then transferred from CSDN into a separate reporting database at scheduled intervals. Reports are generated from the reporting database. Having a separate reporting database allows queries to be run without taxing the system resources of the operational database.