This is no way to treat a hero.

Second World War veteran Bill Wharton recently felt his blood pressure rise when his medical needs met the frustrating tangle of bureaucratic red tape head on.

The 85 year-old veteran had turned to his doctor after noticing an irregular “clicking” noise in his heartbeat. To help find a diagnosis, Wharton was given strict orders to check his blood pressure two times a day for a month.

But when the senior requested a home blood pressure monitor from Veterans Affairs, he was surprised to learn that they were not authorized to cover the cost of the $135 machine. Instead, he was told they could only reimburse his taxi fare to and from his doctor’s clinic, the location of the nearest blood pressure monitor, twice a day.

This news left the veteran scratching his head. He knew that the course of one month taxi rides would have cost the department more than $600 — over four times the cost of the monitor.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Wharton. “Quite frankly, it’s the principle of the thing – that the government will pay so much more money for travel than for the machine.”

The twice-daily taxi rides would have taken over two hours out of Wharton’s schedule to complete a task that takes less than five minutes to perform at home. Additionally, the veteran suffers from balance problems, adding further difficulty to what would already be a significant regular trek. So the veteran took matters into his own hands and purchased his own top of the line blood pressure machine — ringing in at a grand total of $135.

If Wharton wanted to push to get the monitor covered, he was told to “appeal” the case. But with no confirmation as to when his claim would be reviewed, the process would prevent the senior from following his doctor’s orders.

“I was able to solve the problem myself, but it still exists for other veterans,” said Wharton. “What is this doing to other people?”

Wharton stressed that he didn’t feel it was necessarily a political matter as Veterans Affairs has been very good to him on other health-related matters. He just wanted to note that the entire situation felt like a “bureaucratic waste of money.” “The concern is not just for the older vets but also for the newer vets returning home,” said Sherry Jones, Wharton’s daughter. “(The new) vets are going to have to manage in their own home doing the same thing as my father. This is a quality of life issue.”

“I can assure you that our government is committed to ensuring veterans have access to the services they need,” said Veterans Affairs Canada spokesperson Janice Summerby, who added that individual cases could not be discussed due to privacy legislation.

“When prescribed by a physician, Veterans Affairs Canada may cover the cost of blood pressure monitoring devices for Veterans who require them for diagnostic or treatment purposes requiring regular monitoring,” said Summerby.