A Canadian military veteran who was a marquee athlete for Team Canada at the 2023 Invictus Games says he lost thousands of dollars after learning his medical insurance didn’t cover an injury he sustained while representing his country.
Scott Snow traveled to Dusseldorf, Germany to take part in archery, rowing and wheelchair rugby. During his first rugby match, his wheelchair flipped backwards and slammed him onto the court floor, injuring his head, neck and spine.
Nearly a year and two surgeries later, Snow told CBC News she’s had to pay thousands of dollars for assisted living accommodation and has had to forgo some treatments altogether for financial reasons.
If Snow had been one of the active duty Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members on the team, those expenses would have been covered by CAF medical insurance.
Veterans on Canada’s Invictus team are responsible for arranging and paying for their own insurance, but Snow and other veterans on the team say that wasn’t fully explained to them before they went to Germany.
“I can’t believe we have a two-tiered system. If my neighbor gets shot with a bow and arrow and I get shot with a bow and arrow, that person is covered for the rest of their life for any expenses, any modifications, but I have to rely on my credit card,” he told CBC News.
During a wheelchair rugby match between Team Canada and Team USA at the 2023 Invictus Games, Snow reached out to intercept a pass, fell backward and hit his head on the court surface.
Snow was a prominent member of the team.
His trip to the Dusseldorf Games Promotional Video In the video, which was produced to highlight the game, he talks about his two daughters, the 12 surgeries he underwent for service-related injuries, and his struggles with PTSD and depression.
The 43-year-old former Navy diver and special forces officer from Newfoundland and Labrador said he applied to join the 2023 Invicta team so his daughters, who were too young to see him in uniform before his retirement due to illness, could see him represent his country.
“When I received the letter I cried. It was like a chance to sing my last song. I never thought that after 1,000 years I would get the chance to end it the way I wanted,” he said.
“I thought it would be a life-changing event, and it was.”
Watch | The Road to Dusseldorf:
Snow was sitting in a chair without a restraint belt during the opening rugby match against the United States in Dusseldorf on September 10, 2023. Snow told CBC News that he fell backwards when he reached out to catch the ball. Footage of the accident shows Snow’s 250-pound weight causing his head and back to hit the floor hard.
Snow finished the game unaware of any injuries sustained from the fall, and was subsequently examined by the team doctor and a German medical expert on-site, who said he was told an X-ray was not necessary.
When he returned to Canada and resumed physiotherapy for his service-related injuries, his physiotherapist recommended he undergo x-rays to determine the cause of the loss of sensation and numbness in his hands and feet.
The X-rays revealed injuries to his cervical spine. He underwent surgery to fuse his spine. His arms improved, but the numbness in his legs persisted. He was later found to have a fractured lower spine, requiring another surgery.
Canada’s Invictus team is managed by Soldier On, a semi-autonomous CAF program that supports the recovery of ill or injured CAF members and veterans through sport, recreation and creative activities.
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) is also supporting the Invictus program by providing funding to Soldier On, including $16 million to help Canada host the games in Whistler, British Columbia in 2025 and fund the team’s participation.
The Whistler Games will include events such as skeleton, bobsleigh, alpine skiing and snowboarding.
Snow said that during his recovery, he was no longer able to climb the stairs at home, forcing him to move into a nursing home, which costs about $5,000 a month.
He said he had problems with vision in his left eye after hitting his head in a fall, but had to stop undergoing vision treatment because he could not afford it.
Veterans say they were not fully briefed
“Since I was injured, I’ve sent emails, I’ve called, but no one from Soldier On has answered my calls. They’ve never contacted me,” he said.
Snow blames Soldier On and its officials for not adequately explaining to veterans that they needed health insurance to cover medical costs if they were injured while competing.
“It was just a passing thing. We were never called in for an explanation and most people who were looking at it simply assumed that their credit card insurance or CAA insurance would cover their health insurance,” he said.
CBC News spoke to other veterans on the 2023 team who shared the same sentiment, saying they were never briefed on the insurance they needed and assumed standard travel insurance would be enough.
Insurance is mentioned only once in the 30-plus page “Soldier On” document outlining the terms of participation in the Invictus Games: Veterans should “speak with their personal insurance company to ensure they are privately insured and have adequate health insurance coverage,” the document states, and “costs of additional health insurance purchased will not be reimbursed.”
The document for CAF members simply states that members “must possess a Blue Cross card.” The document for the 2025 tournament contains the exact same wording.
Canada sent 31 players to Germany in 2023, including 12 current CAF members and 19 veterans. The 2025 Canadian team is expected to consist of 22 current CAF members and 34 veterans.
Former Navy diver Scott Snow says Soldier On did not adequately explain to him the medical insurance he would need before he deployed to Germany in 2023 as part of Canada’s Invictus team.
The Invictus Foundation said it was the responsibility of participating countries to ensure that their athletes, both domestic and international, had adequate travel, equipment and health insurance — a requirement that was stated verbally and in participating country guides, it said.
In a media statement, the Department of National Defense (DND) told CBC News that participation in the Invictus Games is a “voluntary activity” for CAF personnel, “both active and retired.”
The Ministry of Defence said team members are “encouraged” to take out insurance “to ensure they are fully protected during and after the event”.
“We recognize that this may differ from practice in other countries,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Defence said it was working with Soldier On and its “partners and health insurers to determine what additional coverage can be put in place to ensure there are no gaps for participants following the event”.
The statement did not say how long that process would take or whether the additional compensation would be in place by the time Canada hosts the Olympics in February 2025.
DND also did not say whether the additional compensation would cover medical expenses incurred by veterans at past Invictus Games or whether it would commit to covering Snow’s medical expenses.
In a media statement, the VAC said it is working “together with our partners and Soldier On to prioritise the health of Team Canada participants and to resolve this issue in time for the 2025 Olympics.”
“It’s an unacceptable mess,” veterans’ advocacy group says
Retired Capt. Shawn Bruia, a former Air Force intelligence officer who retired for medical reasons and has since become an activist for the rights of injured veterans, described the plight of uninsured Invictus athletes as “an inexcusable tragedy.”
“To hear that the Invictus Games, which is their biggest PR tool for showing they care about veterans, is not offering insurance to veterans, it makes them feel betrayed and it’s just a terrible icing on the cake. They just want to go back to the country where they sacrificed,” Bruia told CBC News.
Snow said he turned down offers from friends and fellow veterans to help pay for his medical expenses, and said he wants the federal government to guarantee that all veterans who attend the tournament have the same health insurance as active-duty service members.
Snow said the tournament itself was a great experience and it was an honour to meet Prince Harry and represent Canada, but he felt betrayed by Soldier On’s management of the Canadian team.
From the lobby of his retirement home in Kingston, Ontario, Snow can see out his window a giant roadside billboard advertising the 2025 Invictus Games.
“It was instilled in me that we’re a team, we’re a team, we’re here for you forever,” he said, “and people like me, veterans, especially veterans, that’s what I wanted for seven years.”
He said he now felt abandoned: “It was like a piece of my heart had been ripped out…”
