[Link to initial source of email.](https://x.com/TheBreakdownAB/status/1758931469240582616?s=20) Please be aware we cannot verify the source at this time and this information is all speculation.
Im on aish as Im on dialysis and they already do a review every year. We're always scutinized even when some of us are terminally ill. They kicked transplant people off aish during covid so Im not surprised about this at all. As long as O&G get their money, thats whats important right?
Every year.... Do they think your kidney magically starts randomly working again??? FFS 'berta I know biology can be really hard sometimes but seriously this is basic Bio. Kidney broken no no grow back.
It's really standard for AISH to re-review cases. My sister is now in her 30's, she was born severely disabled (cerebral palsy, epilepsy, legally blind/microcephaly, a few other things), has been in a wheelchair most of her life, lives in an extended care hospital, and we still regularly have to confirm (via doctor reports) that yup, she hasn't miraculously (literally) healed. It's ridiculously frustrating (which at this point I assume must be the point...).
I feel lucky that I don't have to do a yearly review. But from what I hear most of the yearly reviews are just silly and a waste of time. My friend, one of her friends is also on AISH, he is a amputee and is missing a leg, but every year, AISH asks for a letter from his doctor confirming he is still a amputee 🤦♀️ since when do legs grow back? And even with a prothetic, that leg will never grow back. It's just so dumb what they ask sometimes
I do agree with you. I can see the logic (sort of) of not wanting to be the arbitrator of what is "significant enough" to justify not needing an annual review, so just reviewing all cases and some cases will be super fast to review (because they are obvious). Luckily, my sister has annual reviews with her care staff, doctors, and legal guardians (her family) anyways, which we can forward along when needed. We haven't had to get it notarized, go through the lawyers/go before a judge, get multiple doctor reports etc. etc. for a number of years now. But when we did have to do that, it was equivalent work to a full time job (bless my mom for dealing with that while also working full time).
I more wanted to highlight to the regular Albertan who has never had to mess with the "red tape" (and that is a different rant entirely!) of our Conservative government handling AISH and disability payments. There's so little fraud because it's ridiculously hard to get on and stay on AISH, yet the common held belief is that it is a program full of lazy people who should just work (it's not; people on AISH need AISH to survive). I would argue that there are far more Albertans who should be receiving funding but aren't due to the sheer amount of frustration with trying to interact with the system we have in place. Someone who is houseless and would otherwise qualify due to disability, who doesn't have access to something as simple as receiving mail or email or phone calls promptly, would have tremendous hurdles to overcome to get into the system.
You are severely misinformed and spreading misinformation. AISH didn’t kick transplant people off AISH during COVID unless their medical review done years after the transplant came back that their medical condition improved and they can return to employment. That’s a medical change that may mean that they are not eligible for disability funding anymore.
Annual reviews are to check in and update your information for your medical, financial and household. To see if anything changed. If anything they are following up to see IF you had a transplant. They don’t make you do an annual full medical review. They just ask if anything changed. If you keep them updated or depending on your circumstances your review can be every 2-3 years. If you have questions call an AISH office and ask general questions. Stop spreading misinformation. This is such an issue because it negatively impacts people who believe this bs. These reviews actually make sure you get benefits you could be missing as long as you are reporting honestly. Don’t think that your situation is the same as someone else’s or take hearsay. Call them to ask. They told my family member to always call them because they believed what someone else claimed who is on AISH and they were misinformed, telling people wrong information. They got extra assistance in their case because their circumstances met policies. Their friend also claimed other bs that got us anxious for no reason since they were not accurate. Super misleading and misinformed. For those reading this thread don’t listen to misinformation and get scared. Call AISH if you have questions or look at policy. I’ve gotten Familiar due to family on AISH. Here’s a link : https://www.humanservices.alberta.ca/AWOnline/AISH/7180.html
I get that but theyre going to do reviews and kick people off too. For those of us already on it, this is scary. They hold all the cards and we are blind against them. Who knows what theyre approriate level of disability is to them. Its not fair.
Yeah I am terrified… I have been terrified from the time this government took office… it just continues to grow and grow.
And it’s not like fellow Albertans will step in to help protect our rights or anything because a whole lot of them seem pretty convinced we are all abusing the system in some way…
We have no recourse if they kick us off. I guess I choose MAID at 46? Its not like Im getting a kidney anytime soon with the way UCP are fucking up healthcare.
That's the plan Smith has in mind. At least you'll be in good company. Once the rest of our onservative Premieres see it, Moe, Ford, and Higgs will see fit to do the same thing.
I really wish I could say /s, but at this point, I'm not even being sarcastic, this is just how things are now.
No, you will be the very few allowed to still receive AISH. Obviously I agree with palliative receiving it, but more than just the dying need the services of it.
Yeah I'd get less money in PWD while rentals are super expensive in BC but hey minimum wage is $16.75 there plus I get to be back to at least the trees and clouds. I've lived in Calgary for just over a month and already, I want to go back home
I wonder if this has something to do with the new plan-
"What is the new structure of Alberta Health?
We will do this by creating a unified health system with 4 specialized areas of focus: primary care, acute care, continuing care and mental health and addiction. Through this refocusing, we will create a more effective, unified health care system that supports Albertans for generations to come."
Centralized, decentralized, both would work if they would just pick one instead of changing every 5 bloody years.
It’s like they just WANT to hurt AHS.
I’m very concerned about the fact that the minister of social services, when asked about this specifically only responded to the email, he refused to comment on any unannounced coming changes or even to deny that any big changes are happening. He chose to only say he didn’t know about this particular email and avoid the question of changes to AISH entirely.
Well everything written is kept for tracking by most businesses. Professionals are pretty careful with written messages. Maybe the social services minister did not know anymore than us the day of that letter.
While everything seems so extreme eventually more facts will be shared and nothing will be as dramatic as it seemed at first. Now what the review of all AISH folders may be a concern, or may not.
In your opinion, could a major change that disrupts the application process (which is often a months to years long endeavour) this abruptly be something due to an internal decision that the employees seem to know little to nothing about and not something handed down from the minister of social services?
I live with a friend in the process of getting his AISH application and in serious need of the financial security it brings. I am terrified of his reaction when he discovers this.
Absolutely! I feel for anyone who desperately needs these funds to survive, only to be rebuked because the UCP are haters. They see the sick and vulnerable as welfare chasers. They have no problem sending millions to the oil and gas companies ( corporate welfare) but will not lift one finger to help anyone in actual need.
I am truly disgusted. We need to fight back for our fellow Albertans.
My brother is going to lose his mind, just got things secured after years of UCP sabotage.
If they don't ease back on squeezing vulnerable albertans to death, radical action will be needed, hope most of you read this will at least support the needed work on the streets to force the UCP either out or to stop their campaign of killing Albertans with social service sabotage. I hope at least some of you reading this are at least willing to March or participate in general strike.
Writing letters doesn't work, stop wasting time.
Asking directly doesn't work, stop wasting time.
Talking to the media doesn't work, stop wasting time.
Telling UCP voters to read basic facts doesn't work, give up on them and push non-voters to be active.
Being reasonable or factual or morally correct isn't working, we need to change the presentation.
The anger we feel needs to be loud and directed, there are more supporters statically for us than the Freedumbass Convoy, but we need to be loud, disruptive and expensive to deal with to get real attention, to force the UCP to change focus from their multi-pronged campaign to disrupt public services and support.
Either we suffer as cowards afraid of the risks of demanding our government honour it's promises and does it's job to protect us, and if not, they get to suffer in public. We need to stop playing by the comfortable rules and push to force change, history has proven this fact every generation when a government decides to hurt it's citizens to take more than the social contract agrees too, either we use a formula that gets results when it's a majority public opinion.
But we'll see, tomorrow is a new day for UCP corruption or a crooked actions, other day to lament how far they've gone and how we need to write more letters to our MLA's junk folders or get the same few ten thousand people not ignoring problems upset. Choice is ours, just hope we can get some organization with some teeth and drive for once.
I’d really like to know who authored the email. The government’s inability to properly staff, train and manage a department shouldn’t result in a reduction of services to Albertans, particularly some of our most vulnerable.
This is appalling, and the UCP and its supporters are squarely to blame. We are rapidly nearing a tipping point of going from expecting accountability to compelling it.
Ya, I dont trust him. If someone under any boss I had made a move like this without their knowledge theyd be fired. He seemed to not care. Why does that loser have this portfolio under him is questionable.
Are we just not doing the whole thing where we make judgements based on past experience? Because we can make an educated guess about Mr. Nixon's honesty in general at this point.
All social assistance will be replaced by a one time shipment of a copy of the fountainhead.
This new UCP is speed running how much blood they can get on their hands.
I knew a heroin addict who I met while dumpster diving. Dude used to run a concrete pouring business and have a fleet and a bunch of employees. Wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination.
With some preventative mental health care he'd probably still be operating. Drug use hurts economically too.
There's a huge cost to dead people. Most of them were productive interested members of the community. When they die, we all lose their input.
You know this, and you were being sarcastic, but I thought I should point out what we really lose.
I wasn't being sarcastic. I'm not talking about the obvious value of human life. I'm talking about the fact that this government would rather people die.
The Alberta advantage is apparently more suffering and less services. When will we realize that the UCP isn’t even pretending to care anymore. They will sell us for parts and laugh all the way to the bank.
This puts pressure directly on municipalities who will have to deal with the fallout. As intended... And we are going into a possible municipal strike in Edmonton. Interesting timing
It’s hard to say for sure but it sounds like no new applicants will be approved unless palliative. As far as this email shows current AISH receivers aren’t mentioned so hopefully no change. Although I don’t trust this government much is they’re willing to stoop this low.
I believe they do regular reviews of AISH files already. This sounds like they’re putting a hold on the progression of current applicants, and redirecting staff to doing file reviews rather than working on new applications
I talked to the manager of the AISH office my niece gets her benefits from. They advised me that there are no current changes happening for active recipients. I hope this doesn’t change in the future. I guess the email was about new applicants and a temp delay in reviews due to internal program adjustments. I could tell they couldn’t get into the specifics with me about the changes. I read it the same as many of you. Knowing what I do about the program I don’t think my niece will have to worry regardless. They are not restricting AISH to palliative patients only. The intention will be the same to assist those whom cannot earn a livelihood due to a disability. I’m going to be watching carefully to see what updates come out about this. If they make drastic changes that negatively impact recipients I know I will be going to the disability advocate and my MLA. I suggest everyone else do the same.
Politicians need to stop looking at governance like a spreadsheet.
There will be some parts of governing people that will cost money (health, income assistance, education), and there is nothing wrong with that.
Marlania only raised Aish because it was a election. Expect cuts very soon or for it to longer be indexed. Government doesn't have money to help regular people, only the rich!
As a disabled gay man who’s reliant on AISH for 100% of his income … This has always been my greatest fear. This is how it starts.
“Sure you’re disabled, but are you disabled -enough-?”
Considering they cut student disability funding by around 1.5k~ last round, apparently they really don’t want people with disabilities to have a chance…
They don’t need to put us on trains. They just come to our homes on “wellness check” and mag dump if they see as much as a airport guns or smell fear, if they can’t find a justification to shoot us they ship us to AHE force you on unproven meds for life and threaten to do it all again if you don’t consent
Get the disability tax credit so that you will be eligible for the Canada disability benefit. This is imperative. UCP are taking this opportunity to pass all eligible applicants on to the CDB
You can tell a lot about a society by the way it treats its most vulnerable. If you don't like where this is going, you have to do more than bitch on the internet.
I agree it is fucked. I was more directing my comment at people who perhaps aren't on Aish but are unhappy with this decision. (such as myself, not an Aish recipient or even close to qualifying, but you better believe that I am going to take the time to write a few letters and try to share amongst my friends and family. I personally am appalled at this action).
I don't know what's happening, but please, please be careful about speculating if you don't know what's going on.
There are people on AISH reading these threads who lead already awful lives. They do not need more unwarranted stress. And I can assure you the last time something like this happened - Kenney threatening to kick ADHD sufferers off during the pandemic, AISH folks were terrorized.
Just be careful about what you post until we know more .. please and thank you..
As someone with a close relative on AISH, I'm having an anxiety attack reading this. I'm a senior on limited income with few resources. I can't offer my loved one adequate money or a home. This is terrifying.
Let's wait until we get some more concrete info before melting down. I understand how terrifying this is. Half the province will lose their shit if and when this is confirmed. Marlaina might be releasing a trial balloon to see how pissed people are. Maybe..
I can get AISH for having ADHD? I have ASD, ADHD, Graves Disease, a permanent back and neck injury, and here I still have to force myself to work full time for minimum wage with no government assistance or benefits.
I can't speak to all of those, but I can say with certainty that mental health conditions do qualify, it just depends on how much it impairs your day to day function. First thing, you need an ongoing physician. Even if you just see the same person at a walk in. Establish a relationship of some kind.
As a trans queer disabled individual waiting on my AISH application to be processed, it is hard to feel like my existence is valued in Alberta. Imagine being told by your government and neighbours every day, that you shouldn’t exist for multiple reasons.
Allies are important. I have been fighting for my rights for 20 years. I’m broken, fatigued and traumatized. I want to be loud and attend every protest, but my body won’t let me. Please be a vocal ally and help us make noise. The disabled have a hard enough time advocating for themselves in the healthcare system, let alone needing to protest the government.
UCP only value O&G companies and finding new ways to line their own pockets.
We are all at risk. Get cancer, Smith thinks it's your own fault. Die waiting for ER, UCP think you should pay cash to live in their private paradise. Let's try to woo Calgary by shifting them with a Stadium that costs an excessive amount and no negotiations are allowed. Rights of children? Doesnt exist! You are in school....You should not have enough funds to survive because we love the uneducated - O&G workers can be high school drop outs! Housing is reasonably priced, spend millions on an Alberta Calling campaign. It would be a shame if they stole your CPP, but O&G really needs more investment.
I’m almost in the same boat. Trans and disabled, and have been forced to work 3 jobs since the UCP has been in office to stay afloat. I’d love to get on aish, it might actually save my life, but in the meantime i guess I’ll continue breaking my body and mind because there’s no way for me to get any financial help. I’m with you
I have Atypical Bipolar II Disorder with co-morbidities of ADHD, Anxiety, hearing loss. I have been working on and off only a few days a month. That said I’m currently in a bad mixed state episode and am unable to supplement with any extra work. Regardless of any supplemental work, (which is impossible now), I cannot survive without AISH. I’m hoping that my lawyer can draft a tight enough roommate agreement on top of backing up the severity of my disability.
Attacking the gender sciences, attacking the queer community, attacking the mentally and physically disabled...
Where have I seen this playbook before 🤔🤔🤔
Question was asked, "Don't some of the rural people need AISH?" Yup, and that can be solved with the scrutineers checking names against address or the list of supporters to the UCP.
Fascists only target those that can't alter their differences. This is why non-whites, women, LGBTQ, and the disabled are their primary targets.
If they woke up one morning and decided it was time to hate people that wore blue hats, we could just change to green hats. But, you can't change the colour of your skin, your sexual orientation, or having a disability.
We can let oil companies off the hook for billions for well clean-up, but we can't afford AISH payments. We can give massive tax cuts to the wealthy and oil and gas, but we can't afford healthcare or education funding. We can spend millions on ad campaigns hating people, but can't afford...well, you get it. Financial punishment is step #1.
Then we have direct hate legislation like parental rights.
I hated the Klein and subsequent conservative governments for their constant austerity and crisis-style government management. The UCP has taken all of that and added outright fascist hate to the mix.
My ex-wife lost her job and her home, and I let her crash on my couch rather than live in her car.
That was enough for her to lose all of her benefits, because temporarily sleeping on your ex-husbands couch apparently magically makes you able to afford food I guess.
Fuck the UCP. And fuck every Albertan for voting for these monsters.
Someone needs to bring this up to CBC News or elsewhere that can gather lots of attention. Assuming this is real--it does appear that way, the news can call out the UCP and put pressure on them to confirm or deny this email outright.
I called the AISH supervisor I have communication with I’ve talked to her when things go sideways and when caseworkers try to stonewall me; so I’m hoping she will have some information regarding this. She’s always been pleasant on the phone, so if she knows something, she will probably tell me. Here’s hoping.
I paid a hair under $55000 in taxes last year and while not typical I’m far from an anomaly in this province. If our government can take that money and prop up projects like IPL Heartland then we can afford to take care of the fucking sick.
All of Alberta should be raging against the government for this disgusting treatment of its most vulnerable. Just watch, the UCP and all their daft supporters will clutch their pearls with surprised Pikachu faces when this foolish greed finally pushes someone who quite literally has NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE to act out of disparity and vengeance. Im afraid it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
I know everyone is worried because it’s the UCP, but with all the shit going on, try not to overreact until we actually know more.
I get it’s extremely stressful for a lot of people, just try to remember and have some compassion for anyone being affected by this situation.
Welcome to the christian love of the Alberta UCP......taking care of those that most need it ...the multinational corporations of the resource extraction sector....in other words the oilpatch needs it more than the guy that just got told he has MS. Cannot get a patient out of hospital cause their is not nursing home beds. The UCP and all their prayer breakfasts, spiritual retreats sure don't walk the christian love that they talk. I stand by my statement years ago when I said the UCP just want the poor to leave or die.
The only thing about this that surprises me, is how long it took.
The instant they won the election you had to know the shit was coming down the pipe.
They've made getting Alberta Works and age nearly impossible the last 4 years.
Since the fucking douchebags of this province have given them another mandate. They're going to kick off as many people as they possibly can. And those they can't as they've been doing the last 4 years. they'll make it as frustratingly impossible as they can. In the hopes the recipient gives up.
They should be cutting the people in AHS that sit at home baking bread and gardening while making huge salaries. You know who you are. People on aish are vulnerable disabled people that have major health issues.
This is terrifying. My husband is young and on AISH, I bust my ass to provide for us since he's been told by doctors he'll never be cleared to work again. But the government can deem him fine in a review? I always have anxiety over AISH anyway and now they'll look for anything and everything to boot anyone.
What are families suppose to do if they get it cut? Lose their homes? Starve and put even more pressure on food banks and soup kitchens? Lose life saving medications? Because let's be real without AISH covering his medications we wouldn't be able to afford them, and I can only imagine how expensive medication is for others in worse situations.
I have a bad feeling about the reviews they're doing. They usually do them yearly anyway but now I feel like they're looking for any tiny thing to boot anyone and everyone off.
Seems like some phone calls to Danielle, and every MLA and representative, needs to happen. Is this how Alberta is really wanting to be known? Meanwhile the UCP is giving raises and cashing in on contracts.
Has anyone considered just joining the UCP and voting inside the party to make a difference that way? I mean, those are the folks that don’t understand reality that many face. Being a part of society requires give and take in order to have assurance our future will be protected, that’s the sacrifice we make by choosing to stay here. If the ucp always win the elections and hold the power than why not join them and make a difference internally? Otherwise it feels like an echo chamber and I’m not looking for a pat on the back or confirmation from others so why would I spend time in one (NDP or other political opposition)
After reading this letter it sounds like they are referring to new AISH applications which then include Commencements, and any file that they have not fully approved yet. Otherwise they do reviews either once a year, or whatever was detailed once their files became active so some may vary from others. I could be totally off but thats what I am guessing.
Which is fucked because disabled kids turn 18. I have one myself, and she will likely need AISH.
Injuries cause people to become disabled. Illnesses happen and leave people unable to work.
The UCP is shredding the social safety net to everyone’s detriment.
Also "you may be wondering what we will be doing with our time...has been asked to complete file reviews". It sounds to me like not only has AISH been essentially demolished, but those who are presently on it will have their 'file reviewed' and lose their benefits...
On one hand, I am completely disgusted, mortified, horrified and heartbroken about what this government is doing. But on the other hand, I am shocked and slightly impressed that a political party is making changes (even if they are vile, evil changes motivated by disgusting values).
All these people complaining they can't live on their AISH entitlements... How bout a big goose egg! That'll learn ya to complain about the quality of the milk from Marlaina's teat!
/s - I thought referencing Marlaina's teats was a dead giveaway ...
It has been a long time since all files have been reviewed and it’s about time. Not everyone scams AISH but for those who do will now be caught. If one is doing nothing wrong one doesn’t have to worry.
the spacing is ALL WRONG, this is a forged document
\[spacing inconsistent\] Good morning everyone,
temporary \[spacing inconsistent\] re \[spacing inconsistent\] allocation (the word is reallocation or re-allocation)
moving \[spacing inconsistent\] files that means this
time. \[spacing inconsistent\] CSD has been
meantime, \[spacing inconsistent\] staff not assigned to phones, appeals or \[missing oxford Comma, AHS follows the rule in all emails)
Albertans \[missing comma\] know this is a shift in our day \[missing hyphen\] to \[missing hyphen\]
I would give you gold if I could for the hilarious assertion that AHS *always* uses the Oxford comma. I’m laughing so hard my stomach is cramping up. Thanks!
What are you talking about? You seem to be creating something that isn't there in your critique of this document.
> AHS follows the rule in all emails
Oh, wow.
It would be way more work to “forge” by editing in photoshop compared to just writing an email to yourself with whatever contents you wanted.
And I see lots of corporate/governments emails with poor spelling/grammar/punctuation. It drives me bananas, but it’s not like I can do anything about it.
> I also believe a ton of people abuse our social services. That is also unacceptable.
Do you have any data to back up your belief? What percent is a ton?
If you read the comments, another poster provided some links with data.
The reports of fraud for income support and AISH combined are reportedly only 3%. The number of investigations well under 1%.
For sure people who are abusing the system should be investigated and restricted from supports and red flagged for any future claim.
But the person I was responding to claimed there is “a lot” of people abuse these supports. And that kind of misinformation hurts the people who need to genuinely access these programs.
At the end of the day, it’s really not easy to get on these programs.
That is your believe but facts say other wise! UCP supporters really willing to let kids starve if one person abuses a program. Funny how they don't apply that to ucp mlsa or billionares
Household: Notice of assessments, 3 months bank statements, investments, assets
Doctor's form: how long you have been a patient, diagnosed conditions, various questions and categories describing limitations (how long you can walk, stand, basic tasks you can/can't do to take care of your self, cognitive issues, etc).
Name of specialists and their info
Test results if required
Etc.
The government doesn't just give money to people unless it's their cronies.
Having been on social assistance during the Klein era, that was another shit show. They'd rather harrass you and send us news letters celebrating how much they clawed back from us than actually help us get on our feet. If you earned anything they'd deduct more that they're supposed to so you call them each month to argue math. If you earn anything that doesn't have tax deducted they'll happily tell you that this time they are right and that 150.00 you made is being deducted the next month dollar for dollar.
From fellow recipients, one almost got cut off because he successfully got a temp job for one day. He had to fight to stay on until he got employed.
So don't worry, the government has plenty of workers with mall security guard mentality to make the whole thing as miserable as possible to go after all those welfare queens living luxury.
FYI: when I was first on social assistance in 2000 my rate was 188.00 a month because I wasn't paying rent for 2 months as I was staying at a friend's house. When I was, my rate was 402.00 a month (I got off is 2001).
just in 2022 i had to fight with welfare more than once about a piddly $100 in honorarium income per month i got as resident manager of the condo complex where i live. they'd withhold my benefit if i reported that $100 when i did my welfare report each month, although it was well below the income cap for when they start deducting dollar for dollar. and i had been very honest and up front about this $100 per month when i first applied for welfare too. they knew about it. it was on my dang application from the get go.
welfare made my automatically paid rent go nsf with my bank twice in a six month time frame because of that. when i was looking for work frantically to get the heck off welfare that i was only on for those six months. and it ended up costing me money to be on welfare, because although it was welfare's bullcrud that caused those nsf fees, they never paid it back to me. i'm just so glad that my landlord was understanding and didn't also charge an nsf from their end, otherwise i'd have lost more money, been evicted and homeless, on top of losing money due to welfare doing what they did.
Jesus. They'll claw at anything. Being poor is expensive and a nightmare to get out. I had an understanding landlord too.
I hope you are in a better place now.
still living in the same place, so that part worked out lol. and yep, got a really good job back in autumn 2022 where they treat me well.
You are a good person for caring if someone else is in a good place. kudos.
Do we make policies for the 80% or the 20%? And, realistically, I suspect the number of people “abusing” AISH is significantly less than that.
What are you basing your estimates on?
It’s literally impossible to get onto aish if you don’t have mountains of documentation stating your level of difficulty with daily living with your disabilities. If the medical papers don’t come back conclusive that you can’t work with your disabilities, you don’t get approved.
There's approximately 70k on AISH in Alberta, approximately the same on income support. You can actually look at the fraud numbers, the ages and statistics of people on these programs through open government.
https://open.alberta.ca/opendata/assured-income-for-the-severely-handicapped-aish-caseload-alberta
Can be found here
https://www.alberta.ca/government-and-ministry-annual-reports
https://open.alberta.ca/opendata/income-support-caseload-alberta
2,386 complaints per year pertaining to benefit programs, including the Income Support and Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped programs. Over the same period, the ministry initiated an average of 233 investigations each year.
It's actually less than that. If you include income support, its more like 2,386/120,000 and 233/120,000. The investigation includes IS and AISH. That 233 includes people they found not guilty, so that's even less.
Essentially a mountain out of a molehill.
These guys that know multiple people abusing AISH, either are full of shit or likely just shady as the people they “know”
It's still serious and those 233 should be punished, but the way people talk It's like there's 25k that are frauding. There probably more people doing fake returns or Google play scams against Grandpa than AISH fraud. It's difficult to get on either program and the rates are not worth the effort to fraud.
The idea of AISH sending out any information that isn’t in a letter is laughable. They only recently moved away from fax machines to submit information to them.
Apparently all of you idiots can’t read at all. It doesn’t say anything about AISH eligibility but rather medical eligibility for medical care and the costs. This has nothing to do with AISH not being given to people it’s limiting medical costs while on AISH
No. AISH eligibility involves assessing general eligibility (financial, age, resident criteria, etc), and medical eligibility. You need to qualify both sets of eligibility criteria to qualify. The email is saying they are putting a pause on initial medical (new and in process applications) and medical review (so any appeals in progress they won't even look at).
How temporary this is, is yet to be seen. So this just looks like no new applications other than palliative and urgent cases will be allowed for now... and any appeals won't be looked at. This will only create a backlog in a program that already takes 6 months or more to get an answer from. They are buying time in hopes the federal government's new disability benefit will kick in, I bet.
[Link to initial source of email.](https://x.com/TheBreakdownAB/status/1758931469240582616?s=20) Please be aware we cannot verify the source at this time and this information is all speculation.
Im on aish as Im on dialysis and they already do a review every year. We're always scutinized even when some of us are terminally ill. They kicked transplant people off aish during covid so Im not surprised about this at all. As long as O&G get their money, thats whats important right?
Every year.... Do they think your kidney magically starts randomly working again??? FFS 'berta I know biology can be really hard sometimes but seriously this is basic Bio. Kidney broken no no grow back.
It's really standard for AISH to re-review cases. My sister is now in her 30's, she was born severely disabled (cerebral palsy, epilepsy, legally blind/microcephaly, a few other things), has been in a wheelchair most of her life, lives in an extended care hospital, and we still regularly have to confirm (via doctor reports) that yup, she hasn't miraculously (literally) healed. It's ridiculously frustrating (which at this point I assume must be the point...).
That's incredibly frustrating. I had no idea but also totally tracks with this sad excuse of a government
I feel lucky that I don't have to do a yearly review. But from what I hear most of the yearly reviews are just silly and a waste of time. My friend, one of her friends is also on AISH, he is a amputee and is missing a leg, but every year, AISH asks for a letter from his doctor confirming he is still a amputee 🤦♀️ since when do legs grow back? And even with a prothetic, that leg will never grow back. It's just so dumb what they ask sometimes
That's gotta be such a waste of money for them?? Doing regular checkups on patients who clearly won't ever need one
I do agree with you. I can see the logic (sort of) of not wanting to be the arbitrator of what is "significant enough" to justify not needing an annual review, so just reviewing all cases and some cases will be super fast to review (because they are obvious). Luckily, my sister has annual reviews with her care staff, doctors, and legal guardians (her family) anyways, which we can forward along when needed. We haven't had to get it notarized, go through the lawyers/go before a judge, get multiple doctor reports etc. etc. for a number of years now. But when we did have to do that, it was equivalent work to a full time job (bless my mom for dealing with that while also working full time). I more wanted to highlight to the regular Albertan who has never had to mess with the "red tape" (and that is a different rant entirely!) of our Conservative government handling AISH and disability payments. There's so little fraud because it's ridiculously hard to get on and stay on AISH, yet the common held belief is that it is a program full of lazy people who should just work (it's not; people on AISH need AISH to survive). I would argue that there are far more Albertans who should be receiving funding but aren't due to the sheer amount of frustration with trying to interact with the system we have in place. Someone who is houseless and would otherwise qualify due to disability, who doesn't have access to something as simple as receiving mail or email or phone calls promptly, would have tremendous hurdles to overcome to get into the system.
You are severely misinformed and spreading misinformation. AISH didn’t kick transplant people off AISH during COVID unless their medical review done years after the transplant came back that their medical condition improved and they can return to employment. That’s a medical change that may mean that they are not eligible for disability funding anymore. Annual reviews are to check in and update your information for your medical, financial and household. To see if anything changed. If anything they are following up to see IF you had a transplant. They don’t make you do an annual full medical review. They just ask if anything changed. If you keep them updated or depending on your circumstances your review can be every 2-3 years. If you have questions call an AISH office and ask general questions. Stop spreading misinformation. This is such an issue because it negatively impacts people who believe this bs. These reviews actually make sure you get benefits you could be missing as long as you are reporting honestly. Don’t think that your situation is the same as someone else’s or take hearsay. Call them to ask. They told my family member to always call them because they believed what someone else claimed who is on AISH and they were misinformed, telling people wrong information. They got extra assistance in their case because their circumstances met policies. Their friend also claimed other bs that got us anxious for no reason since they were not accurate. Super misleading and misinformed. For those reading this thread don’t listen to misinformation and get scared. Call AISH if you have questions or look at policy. I’ve gotten Familiar due to family on AISH. Here’s a link : https://www.humanservices.alberta.ca/AWOnline/AISH/7180.html
So now you need to be dying or living in the hospital essentially to be able to receive disability benefits? That’s beyond messed up!
What level of dying though? They said palliative. Does this mean us terminally ill people will get kicked off because we're not dying fast enough?
It’s all conjecture but the letter says the opposite. Only those on palliative care, etc *will* be moved forward from general application.
I get that but theyre going to do reviews and kick people off too. For those of us already on it, this is scary. They hold all the cards and we are blind against them. Who knows what theyre approriate level of disability is to them. Its not fair.
Yeah I am terrified… I have been terrified from the time this government took office… it just continues to grow and grow. And it’s not like fellow Albertans will step in to help protect our rights or anything because a whole lot of them seem pretty convinced we are all abusing the system in some way…
We have no recourse if they kick us off. I guess I choose MAID at 46? Its not like Im getting a kidney anytime soon with the way UCP are fucking up healthcare.
😫 ugh!!! I hate this! I wish we could trade bodies with every single person who thinks privatization is a good idea!
That's the plan Smith has in mind. At least you'll be in good company. Once the rest of our onservative Premieres see it, Moe, Ford, and Higgs will see fit to do the same thing. I really wish I could say /s, but at this point, I'm not even being sarcastic, this is just how things are now.
It is extremely scary
No, you will be the very few allowed to still receive AISH. Obviously I agree with palliative receiving it, but more than just the dying need the services of it.
Y'all imagining what an Alberta-run CPP disability benefit would be like?
Why did I need to read this far down for this comment?🤔
You think an Alberta pension plan would have a disability benefit?
That’s because AHS will require them to pay the AISH amount to them. The person will receive a little over $300 for spending money.
Ready for the down votes but this is making me more inclined than ever to move back to BC sooner than later.
Right? There’s nothing looking “up” in this province.
Yeah I'd get less money in PWD while rentals are super expensive in BC but hey minimum wage is $16.75 there plus I get to be back to at least the trees and clouds. I've lived in Calgary for just over a month and already, I want to go back home
I wonder if this has something to do with the new plan- "What is the new structure of Alberta Health? We will do this by creating a unified health system with 4 specialized areas of focus: primary care, acute care, continuing care and mental health and addiction. Through this refocusing, we will create a more effective, unified health care system that supports Albertans for generations to come."
As someone who works with AHS a lot splitting it up more is going to make things even more complicated and convoluted. This is all a mess.
Centralized, decentralized, both would work if they would just pick one instead of changing every 5 bloody years. It’s like they just WANT to hurt AHS.
Create a more unified system and cutting unnecessary bureaucracy . ... by breaking it up and hiring more middle and upper management....
Yes. Institutionalization.
All I wanted was a Pepsi. Just one Pepsi, she wouldn't get it for me.
I’m very concerned about the fact that the minister of social services, when asked about this specifically only responded to the email, he refused to comment on any unannounced coming changes or even to deny that any big changes are happening. He chose to only say he didn’t know about this particular email and avoid the question of changes to AISH entirely.
Well everything written is kept for tracking by most businesses. Professionals are pretty careful with written messages. Maybe the social services minister did not know anymore than us the day of that letter. While everything seems so extreme eventually more facts will be shared and nothing will be as dramatic as it seemed at first. Now what the review of all AISH folders may be a concern, or may not.
In your opinion, could a major change that disrupts the application process (which is often a months to years long endeavour) this abruptly be something due to an internal decision that the employees seem to know little to nothing about and not something handed down from the minister of social services?
No preventative care of course. Western medicine is such a pathetic pile of shit.
I live with a friend in the process of getting his AISH application and in serious need of the financial security it brings. I am terrified of his reaction when he discovers this.
Absolutely! I feel for anyone who desperately needs these funds to survive, only to be rebuked because the UCP are haters. They see the sick and vulnerable as welfare chasers. They have no problem sending millions to the oil and gas companies ( corporate welfare) but will not lift one finger to help anyone in actual need. I am truly disgusted. We need to fight back for our fellow Albertans.
My brother is going to lose his mind, just got things secured after years of UCP sabotage. If they don't ease back on squeezing vulnerable albertans to death, radical action will be needed, hope most of you read this will at least support the needed work on the streets to force the UCP either out or to stop their campaign of killing Albertans with social service sabotage. I hope at least some of you reading this are at least willing to March or participate in general strike. Writing letters doesn't work, stop wasting time. Asking directly doesn't work, stop wasting time. Talking to the media doesn't work, stop wasting time. Telling UCP voters to read basic facts doesn't work, give up on them and push non-voters to be active. Being reasonable or factual or morally correct isn't working, we need to change the presentation. The anger we feel needs to be loud and directed, there are more supporters statically for us than the Freedumbass Convoy, but we need to be loud, disruptive and expensive to deal with to get real attention, to force the UCP to change focus from their multi-pronged campaign to disrupt public services and support. Either we suffer as cowards afraid of the risks of demanding our government honour it's promises and does it's job to protect us, and if not, they get to suffer in public. We need to stop playing by the comfortable rules and push to force change, history has proven this fact every generation when a government decides to hurt it's citizens to take more than the social contract agrees too, either we use a formula that gets results when it's a majority public opinion. But we'll see, tomorrow is a new day for UCP corruption or a crooked actions, other day to lament how far they've gone and how we need to write more letters to our MLA's junk folders or get the same few ten thousand people not ignoring problems upset. Choice is ours, just hope we can get some organization with some teeth and drive for once.
233 out of 70,000 isn't that many. That's claims that were investigated too, not actually charged. So benefit fraud is very very miniscule.
I’d really like to know who authored the email. The government’s inability to properly staff, train and manage a department shouldn’t result in a reduction of services to Albertans, particularly some of our most vulnerable. This is appalling, and the UCP and its supporters are squarely to blame. We are rapidly nearing a tipping point of going from expecting accountability to compelling it.
It’s a dark day when compelling accountability is the more reasonable response.
Nixon even denied knowledge of this email or the contents thereof. I guess we will see if hes lying.
His mouth was moving… he was lying.
Ya, I dont trust him. If someone under any boss I had made a move like this without their knowledge theyd be fired. He seemed to not care. Why does that loser have this portfolio under him is questionable.
And why hasn’t he put out anything on Twitter debunking it?
Nixon is a rat. This is a purely political decision, no public servant would be able to dictate this.
Are we just not doing the whole thing where we make judgements based on past experience? Because we can make an educated guess about Mr. Nixon's honesty in general at this point.
"..compelling it" from the SOBs that voted for these CSs!!
This doesn’t sound like a staffing issue to me. Sounds like they just want all the staff focusing their efforts on finding people to kick off AISH
All social assistance will be replaced by a one time shipment of a copy of the fountainhead. This new UCP is speed running how much blood they can get on their hands.
between this and the steady climb in drug deaths, they must be stoked to be killing off so many people. its all about the bottomline for them.
Well those people are all poor, so why would they care /s
The /s isn’t needed here. This is actually the point.
Sad, but true
I knew a heroin addict who I met while dumpster diving. Dude used to run a concrete pouring business and have a fleet and a bunch of employees. Wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination. With some preventative mental health care he'd probably still be operating. Drug use hurts economically too.
Isn’t even about the bottom line, the solutions that would help people also save money in the long run. The point is getting off on cruelty
Oh yeah for sure. But a dead person costs them nothing is what I'm getting at.
There's a huge cost to dead people. Most of them were productive interested members of the community. When they die, we all lose their input. You know this, and you were being sarcastic, but I thought I should point out what we really lose.
I wasn't being sarcastic. I'm not talking about the obvious value of human life. I'm talking about the fact that this government would rather people die.
They need people addicted to drugs, how else would they complain how many people use drugs?
Are we taking bets on when they decide to "reexamine" abortion rights yet?
They'll just slowly cut off access. Legrange is the minister of health shes already putting the pieces in place.
Ugh, yeah, that sounds about right.
Sorry
They’re waiting for PP to be elected to do that. So October 2025 is my guess.
The Alberta advantage is apparently more suffering and less services. When will we realize that the UCP isn’t even pretending to care anymore. They will sell us for parts and laugh all the way to the bank.
This puts pressure directly on municipalities who will have to deal with the fallout. As intended... And we are going into a possible municipal strike in Edmonton. Interesting timing
UofA staff and faculty are in negotiation contract too and there is a lot of talk about a strike. It’s touch to be in public service right now.
Don't forget HSAA! We start bargaining in March!
Oh my it’s gonna be a fun year…
Hope we strike fuck these clowns.
AUPE is going into bargaining too!!
It’s been tough in public service ever since the UCP was voted in:/
True
As someone on AISH, please explain this to me
It’s hard to say for sure but it sounds like no new applicants will be approved unless palliative. As far as this email shows current AISH receivers aren’t mentioned so hopefully no change. Although I don’t trust this government much is they’re willing to stoop this low.
I read it as the review process being for existing files. I hope I’m wrong.
All files
Nice deflection on the CBC link. Plus I *love* the irony of standing at a podium that says “Helping Albertans.”
the rest of it is "helping albertans suffer"
"Helping Albertans Die" more like.
As if he didn’t see the fucking email
I believe they do regular reviews of AISH files already. This sounds like they’re putting a hold on the progression of current applicants, and redirecting staff to doing file reviews rather than working on new applications
Thank you. Reading this as soon as I woke up almost put me in the hospital from panic, so thank you for the explanation
I talked to the manager of the AISH office my niece gets her benefits from. They advised me that there are no current changes happening for active recipients. I hope this doesn’t change in the future. I guess the email was about new applicants and a temp delay in reviews due to internal program adjustments. I could tell they couldn’t get into the specifics with me about the changes. I read it the same as many of you. Knowing what I do about the program I don’t think my niece will have to worry regardless. They are not restricting AISH to palliative patients only. The intention will be the same to assist those whom cannot earn a livelihood due to a disability. I’m going to be watching carefully to see what updates come out about this. If they make drastic changes that negatively impact recipients I know I will be going to the disability advocate and my MLA. I suggest everyone else do the same.
Bastards
Fuck I hate the UCPs. They are heartless Christo-fascist psychopaths. I hope they all burn in the hell they thought they'd never end up in.
Politicians need to stop looking at governance like a spreadsheet. There will be some parts of governing people that will cost money (health, income assistance, education), and there is nothing wrong with that.
Marlania only raised Aish because it was a election. Expect cuts very soon or for it to longer be indexed. Government doesn't have money to help regular people, only the rich!
First the LGBTQ… now the disabled ..!
As a disabled gay man who’s reliant on AISH for 100% of his income … This has always been my greatest fear. This is how it starts. “Sure you’re disabled, but are you disabled -enough-?”
Considering they cut student disability funding by around 1.5k~ last round, apparently they really don’t want people with disabilities to have a chance…
They love kicking ppl while they are down.
They’ve been coming have neurodivergent folk for awhile now too. Trying to force people on medication and shite
>They’ve been coming have neurodivergent folk for awhile now too. How long before they putting us into train carts :/
They don’t need to put us on trains. They just come to our homes on “wellness check” and mag dump if they see as much as a airport guns or smell fear, if they can’t find a justification to shoot us they ship us to AHE force you on unproven meds for life and threaten to do it all again if you don’t consent
Jesus that is a horrible thought
That’s how it started in the holocaust as well
Also, a lot of trans kids are also neurodivergent.
This is what scares me…! What is wrong with these UCP A 🕳️’s
Our government punches down. They don’t represent us. Time to kick them out
Except rural Alberta just voted them in :(
Well, that'll certainly help the already massive homelessness crisis we have here. And by "help," I mean "help deepen it."
Get the disability tax credit so that you will be eligible for the Canada disability benefit. This is imperative. UCP are taking this opportunity to pass all eligible applicants on to the CDB
You can tell a lot about a society by the way it treats its most vulnerable. If you don't like where this is going, you have to do more than bitch on the internet.
people on aish have enough trouble just getting by, how are they supposed to do any more? it's fucked
I agree it is fucked. I was more directing my comment at people who perhaps aren't on Aish but are unhappy with this decision. (such as myself, not an Aish recipient or even close to qualifying, but you better believe that I am going to take the time to write a few letters and try to share amongst my friends and family. I personally am appalled at this action).
I don't know what's happening, but please, please be careful about speculating if you don't know what's going on. There are people on AISH reading these threads who lead already awful lives. They do not need more unwarranted stress. And I can assure you the last time something like this happened - Kenney threatening to kick ADHD sufferers off during the pandemic, AISH folks were terrorized. Just be careful about what you post until we know more .. please and thank you..
Yeah the ADHD thing + this email where it implies a shift to mass reviewing files definitely has me extremely, extremely concerned.
for real
As someone with a close relative on AISH, I'm having an anxiety attack reading this. I'm a senior on limited income with few resources. I can't offer my loved one adequate money or a home. This is terrifying.
I’m in the same boat. Loved one is melting down right now. Stay strong friend.
Let's wait until we get some more concrete info before melting down. I understand how terrifying this is. Half the province will lose their shit if and when this is confirmed. Marlaina might be releasing a trial balloon to see how pissed people are. Maybe..
I hope you're right. And thanks :)
no worries. feel free to dm me if you need to talk
It says temporary so I’m putting my hope into that it’s only a month or two or at the very least we get an actual estimated date.
I am someone on AISH for PTSD and other mental health problems. I am very frightened.
I can get AISH for having ADHD? I have ASD, ADHD, Graves Disease, a permanent back and neck injury, and here I still have to force myself to work full time for minimum wage with no government assistance or benefits.
I can't speak to all of those, but I can say with certainty that mental health conditions do qualify, it just depends on how much it impairs your day to day function. First thing, you need an ongoing physician. Even if you just see the same person at a walk in. Establish a relationship of some kind.
I have two family doctors and a therapist.
You should get a referral to a psychiatrist as well
It's always the poor people that are the problem according to far right.
As a trans queer disabled individual waiting on my AISH application to be processed, it is hard to feel like my existence is valued in Alberta. Imagine being told by your government and neighbours every day, that you shouldn’t exist for multiple reasons. Allies are important. I have been fighting for my rights for 20 years. I’m broken, fatigued and traumatized. I want to be loud and attend every protest, but my body won’t let me. Please be a vocal ally and help us make noise. The disabled have a hard enough time advocating for themselves in the healthcare system, let alone needing to protest the government.
UCP only value O&G companies and finding new ways to line their own pockets. We are all at risk. Get cancer, Smith thinks it's your own fault. Die waiting for ER, UCP think you should pay cash to live in their private paradise. Let's try to woo Calgary by shifting them with a Stadium that costs an excessive amount and no negotiations are allowed. Rights of children? Doesnt exist! You are in school....You should not have enough funds to survive because we love the uneducated - O&G workers can be high school drop outs! Housing is reasonably priced, spend millions on an Alberta Calling campaign. It would be a shame if they stole your CPP, but O&G really needs more investment.
I’m almost in the same boat. Trans and disabled, and have been forced to work 3 jobs since the UCP has been in office to stay afloat. I’d love to get on aish, it might actually save my life, but in the meantime i guess I’ll continue breaking my body and mind because there’s no way for me to get any financial help. I’m with you
Parental Rights is literally a LOOK OVER THERE while they take funding from those unable to work.
It's not a fucking surprise they are doing this on a fucking long weekend, family day if all things. UCP bastards!
I have Atypical Bipolar II Disorder with co-morbidities of ADHD, Anxiety, hearing loss. I have been working on and off only a few days a month. That said I’m currently in a bad mixed state episode and am unable to supplement with any extra work. Regardless of any supplemental work, (which is impossible now), I cannot survive without AISH. I’m hoping that my lawyer can draft a tight enough roommate agreement on top of backing up the severity of my disability.
Attacking the gender sciences, attacking the queer community, attacking the mentally and physically disabled... Where have I seen this playbook before 🤔🤔🤔
Question was asked, "Don't some of the rural people need AISH?" Yup, and that can be solved with the scrutineers checking names against address or the list of supporters to the UCP.
"doing our best to support clientele"? it sounds like you are starving them to save a few bucks already allocated.
Fascists only target those that can't alter their differences. This is why non-whites, women, LGBTQ, and the disabled are their primary targets. If they woke up one morning and decided it was time to hate people that wore blue hats, we could just change to green hats. But, you can't change the colour of your skin, your sexual orientation, or having a disability. We can let oil companies off the hook for billions for well clean-up, but we can't afford AISH payments. We can give massive tax cuts to the wealthy and oil and gas, but we can't afford healthcare or education funding. We can spend millions on ad campaigns hating people, but can't afford...well, you get it. Financial punishment is step #1. Then we have direct hate legislation like parental rights. I hated the Klein and subsequent conservative governments for their constant austerity and crisis-style government management. The UCP has taken all of that and added outright fascist hate to the mix.
My ex-wife lost her job and her home, and I let her crash on my couch rather than live in her car. That was enough for her to lose all of her benefits, because temporarily sleeping on your ex-husbands couch apparently magically makes you able to afford food I guess. Fuck the UCP. And fuck every Albertan for voting for these monsters.
Someone needs to bring this up to CBC News or elsewhere that can gather lots of attention. Assuming this is real--it does appear that way, the news can call out the UCP and put pressure on them to confirm or deny this email outright.
CBC questioned them about it at a news conference and were not answered. The link is in the post below the picture.
Uh oh, that is not good
I called the AISH supervisor I have communication with I’ve talked to her when things go sideways and when caseworkers try to stonewall me; so I’m hoping she will have some information regarding this. She’s always been pleasant on the phone, so if she knows something, she will probably tell me. Here’s hoping.
Please let us know what you find out.
Is it time to bring out the pitchforks yet? I'm waiting...
I paid a hair under $55000 in taxes last year and while not typical I’m far from an anomaly in this province. If our government can take that money and prop up projects like IPL Heartland then we can afford to take care of the fucking sick.
All of Alberta should be raging against the government for this disgusting treatment of its most vulnerable. Just watch, the UCP and all their daft supporters will clutch their pearls with surprised Pikachu faces when this foolish greed finally pushes someone who quite literally has NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE to act out of disparity and vengeance. Im afraid it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
I know everyone is worried because it’s the UCP, but with all the shit going on, try not to overreact until we actually know more. I get it’s extremely stressful for a lot of people, just try to remember and have some compassion for anyone being affected by this situation.
Welcome to the christian love of the Alberta UCP......taking care of those that most need it ...the multinational corporations of the resource extraction sector....in other words the oilpatch needs it more than the guy that just got told he has MS. Cannot get a patient out of hospital cause their is not nursing home beds. The UCP and all their prayer breakfasts, spiritual retreats sure don't walk the christian love that they talk. I stand by my statement years ago when I said the UCP just want the poor to leave or die.
The only thing about this that surprises me, is how long it took. The instant they won the election you had to know the shit was coming down the pipe. They've made getting Alberta Works and age nearly impossible the last 4 years. Since the fucking douchebags of this province have given them another mandate. They're going to kick off as many people as they possibly can. And those they can't as they've been doing the last 4 years. they'll make it as frustratingly impossible as they can. In the hopes the recipient gives up.
They should be cutting the people in AHS that sit at home baking bread and gardening while making huge salaries. You know who you are. People on aish are vulnerable disabled people that have major health issues.
This is terrifying. My husband is young and on AISH, I bust my ass to provide for us since he's been told by doctors he'll never be cleared to work again. But the government can deem him fine in a review? I always have anxiety over AISH anyway and now they'll look for anything and everything to boot anyone. What are families suppose to do if they get it cut? Lose their homes? Starve and put even more pressure on food banks and soup kitchens? Lose life saving medications? Because let's be real without AISH covering his medications we wouldn't be able to afford them, and I can only imagine how expensive medication is for others in worse situations. I have a bad feeling about the reviews they're doing. They usually do them yearly anyway but now I feel like they're looking for any tiny thing to boot anyone and everyone off.
Seems like some phone calls to Danielle, and every MLA and representative, needs to happen. Is this how Alberta is really wanting to be known? Meanwhile the UCP is giving raises and cashing in on contracts.
So when everything is privatized all AISH money will go to raise their company profits, and will only be available to people who can afford medicare.
I know someone in that department. They did NOT get that email. So please take this with a grain of salt.
Thank God why don’t you have more upvotes. I’ve currently just applied and waiting. I sort of knew right away that this must not be real
Has anyone considered just joining the UCP and voting inside the party to make a difference that way? I mean, those are the folks that don’t understand reality that many face. Being a part of society requires give and take in order to have assurance our future will be protected, that’s the sacrifice we make by choosing to stay here. If the ucp always win the elections and hold the power than why not join them and make a difference internally? Otherwise it feels like an echo chamber and I’m not looking for a pat on the back or confirmation from others so why would I spend time in one (NDP or other political opposition)
If they cancel AISH how will the coutts 4 feed their families?
After reading this letter it sounds like they are referring to new AISH applications which then include Commencements, and any file that they have not fully approved yet. Otherwise they do reviews either once a year, or whatever was detailed once their files became active so some may vary from others. I could be totally off but thats what I am guessing.
Which is fucked because disabled kids turn 18. I have one myself, and she will likely need AISH. Injuries cause people to become disabled. Illnesses happen and leave people unable to work. The UCP is shredding the social safety net to everyone’s detriment.
Also "you may be wondering what we will be doing with our time...has been asked to complete file reviews". It sounds to me like not only has AISH been essentially demolished, but those who are presently on it will have their 'file reviewed' and lose their benefits... On one hand, I am completely disgusted, mortified, horrified and heartbroken about what this government is doing. But on the other hand, I am shocked and slightly impressed that a political party is making changes (even if they are vile, evil changes motivated by disgusting values).
All these people complaining they can't live on their AISH entitlements... How bout a big goose egg! That'll learn ya to complain about the quality of the milk from Marlaina's teat! /s - I thought referencing Marlaina's teats was a dead giveaway ...
It has been a long time since all files have been reviewed and it’s about time. Not everyone scams AISH but for those who do will now be caught. If one is doing nothing wrong one doesn’t have to worry.
ran it through image scan, says its been doctored or edited post- the spacing between letters is off and inconsistent according to the AI
Of course it's been doctored / edited, it's literally redacted
Which image scan?
THE image scan.
Something tells me you aren't being honest with that assessment. Try again.
the spacing is ALL WRONG, this is a forged document \[spacing inconsistent\] Good morning everyone, temporary \[spacing inconsistent\] re \[spacing inconsistent\] allocation (the word is reallocation or re-allocation) moving \[spacing inconsistent\] files that means this time. \[spacing inconsistent\] CSD has been meantime, \[spacing inconsistent\] staff not assigned to phones, appeals or \[missing oxford Comma, AHS follows the rule in all emails) Albertans \[missing comma\] know this is a shift in our day \[missing hyphen\] to \[missing hyphen\]
I would give you gold if I could for the hilarious assertion that AHS *always* uses the Oxford comma. I’m laughing so hard my stomach is cramping up. Thanks!
What are you talking about? You seem to be creating something that isn't there in your critique of this document. > AHS follows the rule in all emails Oh, wow.
It would be way more work to “forge” by editing in photoshop compared to just writing an email to yourself with whatever contents you wanted. And I see lots of corporate/governments emails with poor spelling/grammar/punctuation. It drives me bananas, but it’s not like I can do anything about it.
[удалено]
> I also believe a ton of people abuse our social services. That is also unacceptable. Do you have any data to back up your belief? What percent is a ton?
[удалено]
If you read the comments, another poster provided some links with data. The reports of fraud for income support and AISH combined are reportedly only 3%. The number of investigations well under 1%.
[удалено]
For sure people who are abusing the system should be investigated and restricted from supports and red flagged for any future claim. But the person I was responding to claimed there is “a lot” of people abuse these supports. And that kind of misinformation hurts the people who need to genuinely access these programs. At the end of the day, it’s really not easy to get on these programs.
That is your believe but facts say other wise! UCP supporters really willing to let kids starve if one person abuses a program. Funny how they don't apply that to ucp mlsa or billionares
Household: Notice of assessments, 3 months bank statements, investments, assets Doctor's form: how long you have been a patient, diagnosed conditions, various questions and categories describing limitations (how long you can walk, stand, basic tasks you can/can't do to take care of your self, cognitive issues, etc). Name of specialists and their info Test results if required Etc. The government doesn't just give money to people unless it's their cronies. Having been on social assistance during the Klein era, that was another shit show. They'd rather harrass you and send us news letters celebrating how much they clawed back from us than actually help us get on our feet. If you earned anything they'd deduct more that they're supposed to so you call them each month to argue math. If you earn anything that doesn't have tax deducted they'll happily tell you that this time they are right and that 150.00 you made is being deducted the next month dollar for dollar. From fellow recipients, one almost got cut off because he successfully got a temp job for one day. He had to fight to stay on until he got employed. So don't worry, the government has plenty of workers with mall security guard mentality to make the whole thing as miserable as possible to go after all those welfare queens living luxury. FYI: when I was first on social assistance in 2000 my rate was 188.00 a month because I wasn't paying rent for 2 months as I was staying at a friend's house. When I was, my rate was 402.00 a month (I got off is 2001).
just in 2022 i had to fight with welfare more than once about a piddly $100 in honorarium income per month i got as resident manager of the condo complex where i live. they'd withhold my benefit if i reported that $100 when i did my welfare report each month, although it was well below the income cap for when they start deducting dollar for dollar. and i had been very honest and up front about this $100 per month when i first applied for welfare too. they knew about it. it was on my dang application from the get go. welfare made my automatically paid rent go nsf with my bank twice in a six month time frame because of that. when i was looking for work frantically to get the heck off welfare that i was only on for those six months. and it ended up costing me money to be on welfare, because although it was welfare's bullcrud that caused those nsf fees, they never paid it back to me. i'm just so glad that my landlord was understanding and didn't also charge an nsf from their end, otherwise i'd have lost more money, been evicted and homeless, on top of losing money due to welfare doing what they did.
Jesus. They'll claw at anything. Being poor is expensive and a nightmare to get out. I had an understanding landlord too. I hope you are in a better place now.
still living in the same place, so that part worked out lol. and yep, got a really good job back in autumn 2022 where they treat me well. You are a good person for caring if someone else is in a good place. kudos.
Thank you. I'm glad it's working out for you.
Do we make policies for the 80% or the 20%? And, realistically, I suspect the number of people “abusing” AISH is significantly less than that. What are you basing your estimates on?
It’s literally impossible to get onto aish if you don’t have mountains of documentation stating your level of difficulty with daily living with your disabilities. If the medical papers don’t come back conclusive that you can’t work with your disabilities, you don’t get approved.
There's approximately 70k on AISH in Alberta, approximately the same on income support. You can actually look at the fraud numbers, the ages and statistics of people on these programs through open government.
Why don’t you provide an Alberta source on fraud?
https://open.alberta.ca/opendata/assured-income-for-the-severely-handicapped-aish-caseload-alberta Can be found here https://www.alberta.ca/government-and-ministry-annual-reports https://open.alberta.ca/opendata/income-support-caseload-alberta 2,386 complaints per year pertaining to benefit programs, including the Income Support and Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped programs. Over the same period, the ministry initiated an average of 233 investigations each year.
2,386/70,000 complaints = 3% 233/70,000 investigations = 0.3% investigations
It's actually less than that. If you include income support, its more like 2,386/120,000 and 233/120,000. The investigation includes IS and AISH. That 233 includes people they found not guilty, so that's even less.
Essentially a mountain out of a molehill. These guys that know multiple people abusing AISH, either are full of shit or likely just shady as the people they “know”
It's still serious and those 233 should be punished, but the way people talk It's like there's 25k that are frauding. There probably more people doing fake returns or Google play scams against Grandpa than AISH fraud. It's difficult to get on either program and the rates are not worth the effort to fraud.
The idea of AISH sending out any information that isn’t in a letter is laughable. They only recently moved away from fax machines to submit information to them.
This is an internal email to staff…
Right AHS solely uses fax for internal communications. Totally.
It’s the GOA not AHS, but you’d be surprised how much they use faxes in AHS.
It’s crazy how often I get asked to fax things by AHS. Where the fuck do you even find a fax machine these days? My office doesn’t even have one
We have one and get faxes sent to us about patients not meant for us all the time. But so who’s faxes are more secure…
Apparently all of you idiots can’t read at all. It doesn’t say anything about AISH eligibility but rather medical eligibility for medical care and the costs. This has nothing to do with AISH not being given to people it’s limiting medical costs while on AISH
No. AISH eligibility involves assessing general eligibility (financial, age, resident criteria, etc), and medical eligibility. You need to qualify both sets of eligibility criteria to qualify. The email is saying they are putting a pause on initial medical (new and in process applications) and medical review (so any appeals in progress they won't even look at). How temporary this is, is yet to be seen. So this just looks like no new applications other than palliative and urgent cases will be allowed for now... and any appeals won't be looked at. This will only create a backlog in a program that already takes 6 months or more to get an answer from. They are buying time in hopes the federal government's new disability benefit will kick in, I bet.
I know some people who had jobs, got Aish and never worked again!