Patient advocacy works! CRA reverses policy on Disability Tax Credit for Type 1 diabetes

Announcements, Living With Diabetes, News & Media | bcdiabetes, mybcd

Author: Dr. Tom Elliott

On Oct 12 BCDiabetes blogged on the CRA Disability Tax Credit as it applied to Type 1 diabetes and how the CRA had moved the goalposts: see Type 1 Diabetes sucks but dont ask the CRA for sympathy.

Good news – the CRA has reversed its policy: so it is back to the old rules where individuals with Type 1 diabetes who meet extremely stringent criteria will once again have their DTC claims honored.  On Wednesday in the House of Commons, Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, acknowledged and apologized for the procedural error that the CRA made in May, denying access to thousands of adults with Type 1 diabetes access to the Disability Tax Credit and Registered Disability Savings Plan.  The full text of the Minister’s speech is available here.

All this comes after months of pressure from Diabetes Canada, JDRF, BCDiabetes and countless others including you – the readership of the BCDiabetes blog and our Facebook page.  Your support and advocacy on behalf of this problem was absolutely instrumental in us achieving resolution.

It is very encouraging for the role of ongoing patient advocacy.  In terms of the CRA DTC the next step is to lobby government to allow time spent on diet and exercise eligible for the 14 hours per week requirement.

Other advocacy projects currently underway at BCDiabetes include persuading BC Pharmacare to cover SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1 agonists, continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and insulin pumps for individuals >25 years of age.

-Dr. Tom Elliott