Veterans’ Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor now says that veterans on Canada’s Invictus Games team will get full health coverage by 2025, days after CBC News reported that veterans on the team have to buy their own health insurance.
“We will continue to work with the Canadian Armed Forces, Soldier On, Invictus Games and other stakeholders to ensure … this situation will be rectified before Invictus Games 2025,” Petitpas Taylor told the House of Commons on Thursday.
NDP MP Rachel Blaney raised the issue in the House after CBC News reported that Scott Snow, a veteran who was a member of Canada’s 2023 Invictus team, had been left on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical expenses.
Snow went to Dusseldorf, Germany to participate in archery, rowing and wheelchair rugby. During his first rugby match, the wheelchair he was using toppled backwards, slamming him onto the court floor and injuring his head, neck and spine.
Snow finished the game unaware of the damage the fall had caused, but after returning to Canada an X-ray revealed he had a cervical spine injury.
He underwent an operation to fuse his vertebrae together. When the tingling in his legs didn’t stop, he had to have a second operation on his lower spine.
Canadian military veteran Scott Snow says he paid thousands in surgery bills after an injury sustained while competing at the Invictus Games last year. Under current rules, only serving members have medical coverage.
Canada’s Invictus team is managed by Soldier On, a semi-autonomous CAF program. Soldier On helps ill and injured CAF members and veterans recover through sports, recreational and creative activities.
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) also supports the Invictus program by providing funding to Soldier On, including $16 million to allow Canada to host the 2025 games in Whistler B.C. and fund the team’s participation.
The Whistler games will include skeleton bobsled, alpine skiing and snowboarding.
Snow says Soldier On and its officials never fully explained to him that, unlike military members of the team, veterans need to have health insurance to cover medical expenses for injuries incurred while competing.
“It was just a passing point. We were never taken aside to explain and most people that were paying attention to it just assumed that their credit card insurance or their CAA insurance would cover their health insurance,” he said.
Snow said his recovery has left him unable to navigate the stairs in his home, forcing him to move into a retirement home costing almost $5,000 a month.
He said he also suffers from problems with vision in his left eye that developed after hitting his head in the fall, but he had to stop vision therapy because he can’t afford the cost.
While reaching up to intercept a pass during Team Canada’s wheelchair rugby match against Team U.S.A. at the 2023 Invictus Games, Snow falls back and hits his head on the court surface.
“Since my injury, there is not one person that has picked up the phone from Soldier On, even though I’ve emailed them, I’ve called them. Not once … have they reached out,” he said.
DND said it is working with Soldier On and its “partners and health insurance providers to determine what additional coverage could be implemented to ensure that there are no gaps for the participants after the event.”
The statement did not say how long that process will take, or if that additional coverage will be in place by the time Canada hosts the 2025 games in February.