Problems after federal employee health plan switch leave widow frustrated, upset

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This article was published 06/12/2023 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For more than 40 years Anne Hoeppner and her late husband never had problems getting their federal government health benefits and coverage.

Until last July.

Now the 84-year-old Hoeppner, whose husband Edwin worked for the federal government as an Environment Canada meteorologist for his entire working life, is one of 1.7 million federal workers, retirees and family members who’ve experienced no end of frustrations since the health benefit plan was transferred from Sun Life to Canada Life last summer.

The issues include long-delayed reimbursement for prescription drug purchases, physiotherapy and ambulance trips.

“This has been the worst thing that has happened to me my whole life,” Hoeppner said Wednesday.

“They’ve tried to make up for the lost time, but they’re still not doing a good job. And nobody believed me when I first said there was a problem. I’m glad people believe me now.”

The federal government, the largest employer in the country, switched providers July 1. Members of the plan include all federal workers, including present and retired civil servants, RCMP officers and MPs.

Canada Life call centre employees were inundated with thousands of calls daily after the transfer.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada counts 180,000 of its members and their dependents in the plan. Marianne Hladun, the union’s regional executive vice-president for the Prairies, said the federal government needs to fix the problem.

Hladun and some local PSAC members went to St. Boniface Liberal MP Dan Vandal’s constituency office and taped lists of complaints about the benefit plan to the glass windows.

“Our members want to send a message,” Hladun said. “This has been an absolute fiasco. (Canada Life) didn’t have enough agents so our members couldn’t even get enrolled in the system.”

The problems come after civil servants have already suffered through eight years of pay issues caused by Ottawa’s problem-plagued Phoenix system, which underpaid, overpaid or failed to pay hundreds of thousands of employees.

“Since the (Canada Life) transition in July, members are dealing with a wide range of issues: claims taking months to be processed, waiting on hold for hours to then get disconnected, or even getting incorrect information from agents,” Hladun said.

“Workers demand action from the government,” she added. “It is unacceptable that our members, retirees and their families are being treated in this manner. We expect swift and decisive action from the federal government to resolve these issues immediately.”

Vandal, who is also the federal northern affairs minister, said he has already raised the issue with Treasury Board President Anita Anand.

“I totally understand where the workers of the Government of Canada are coming from,” Vandal told the Free Press.

“The delays are unacceptable… the problem is not being fixed fast enough, in my view.”

Vandal said Canada Life now has to deal with 1.7 million new clients but “that has nothing to do with it. You have to devote the resources and the systems necessary to make it seamless.”

Anand said she and her team have been working with Canada Life “to ensure concrete actions are taken to deliver results.

“Over the past few weeks we have seen many positive developments, with call wait times now under three minutes and the claims backlog cleared,” she said in a statement.

“While we know some members are still experiencing issues, my team and I will continue to work closely with Canada Life to resolve them and ensure a reliable and efficient service for everyone who needs it.”

A spokesman for Canada Life said staff have been working hard to catch up.

“Every customer under this plan should be able to access their benefits and we are approving every eligible claim based on the benefits and coverage levels agreed to between the government, unions and pensioner representatives,” the spokesman said.

“We’ve implemented a customer service action plan to reduce call wait times, accelerate claims processing and escalate urgent cases. That plan is working with calls today being answered within three minutes and claims processed in two days.”

Hoeppner, whose husband died in 2020, said her problems began last summer when she tried figuring out whether she should send her ambulance bills to Sun Life or Canada Life.

But she said when she tried calling Canada Life she couldn’t get through to speak with anyone.

“You couldn’t get in touch with them,” Hoeppner said. “They wouldn’t answer the phone. I tried calling over and over and over again. I’ve never dealt with such a disgraceful company.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca