Blackadder1916
Army.ca Fixture
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If it hadn't been for noticing this CBC article, I would probably have remained blissfully(?) ignorant until my prescription claims started to be declined.
I'll admit that I was somewhat remiss in not paying attention when the switch to Canada Life was announced, however I have an excuse - I prefer paper to digital. The insurance companies prefer digital communication even when you have indicated paper; so any announcements they've sent me, any of the regular newsletters, any links to switch to the new company all went (unaware to me) to an email address that I hadn't used for several years. The communications that matter (or, up till now, thought had been the only ones that mattered), namely the scarce claims that I've sent in (actually only one in the last two years, for specs, (all my rx are submitted direct by the pharm) go by post and the payment comes by cheque. I provide banking info to very few agencies.
Anyway, the above story came to my attention by chance. I only opened it because it said "PSHCP". And that started a scramble over the past two days to see what I needed to do and complete in order that my regular prescriptions can be claimed - I had planned to call in my normal 3 month refill today since I have about a week's worth to go.
And thus I encountered many of the same "frustrations" detailed in the CBC article, primarily getting contact with a live human at Canada Life. If you call in you get the expected recording, press through the options for language and the menu to speak to a representative only to receive a message that due to call volume there are no representatives available so call at a later time and that you can go to their website to do "positive enrolment". If you go to their website and try to do positive enrolment, you are informed that you have to have a "unique link" that was emailed to you to do so; to solve that problem of not receiving that "link" they suggest (on their website) to contact them to speak to a representative about PSHCP or go to their website to do positive enrolment (a never ending circle of frustration). There was also the option of completing the positive enrolment by paper and mailing it in.
Since I thought that I may have a chance to get connected if I called early enough (they say their lines are open 0800 to 1700 hrs in each time zone), I got up early this morning to correspond to Newfie time. Did not work. Even at zero dark newfie, the message was still that no one was available due to call volume. After a couple of hours of redialing at regular intervals, I tried a different track. Instead of selecting to speak to a rep, I used the option they have for medical/dental offices calling about/on behalf of a patient (press 3). At last, something other that "no rep available" - now I was in a queue with an expected wait time of 20 to 30 minutes. A human being finally came on line about 35 minutes later. Thankfully, she was very pleasant and helpful and didn't penalize me for not being "a medical office". I explained my dilemma, she took my info and confirmed that I was in the PSHCP system (which had been migrated from Sun Life) but I still had to do "positive enrolment". When I explained the difficulty with "unique link", it was then that I became aware that all previous correspondence had been sent to my former, now defunct email address. Even when she tried to do it from her end, she encountered the same problem. When I asked her about paper enrolment, she said the timeline from receipt of the paper form to enrolment would be between 8 to 12 weeks. To change the email address (and get a link resent) would require me to do "positive enrolment" before they could do that.
Fortunately, with a little finagling and sleight of hand I was able to recover and access my former email address. Along with a few years worth of useless, unimportant correspondence and other assorted junk was a link (that would have expired tomorrow). I was able to complete the enrolment on-line today. Though I will take responsibility for the small part my digital idiosyncrasies may have played, much more blame must be laid on the insurance companies (both Sun Life and Canada Life) as well as whatever arm of government is responsible for PSHCP. And now, forewarned, I await the same switch of the Pensioners' Dental Care Plan next year to Canada Life.
Anyone else encounter difficulties with this switch? This has only been enrolment, I wondering now how efficient they will be with claims processing.
Frustration abounds as public service health plan gets switched to Canada Life
Complaints include long wait times, concerns about coverage
Dorène Hartling estimates she's called Canada Life close to two dozen times over the last week, each time failing to speak to an agent no matter what time of the day she rings.
Almost immediately, she gets the same message.
"Our service representatives are temporarily unavailable due to higher than normal call volumes."
With a big sigh, Hartling has one word to describe how she feels: "frustration."
She's not alone. On July 1, the country's largest health-care plan switched providers to Canada Life Assurance Company, bringing more than 1.7 million federal public servants, retirees and their dependents with them.
Meanwhile, the dental plan for retirees will transition to Canada Life on July 1 next year.
For Hartling, her husband Stephen, and many others, the transition has been anything but smooth.
Stress, frustration
CBC received a number of complaints from current and retired public servants and veterans in the weeks before and after the Canada Day switch.
They ranged from long wait times — upwards of an hour in many cases — trying to get through to someone on the phone, only to get an automated message telling them that no one is available and that they can't leave a voicemail.
Others have expressed concerns about not hearing back from anyone over email and not having access to their digital drug and dental benefit cards.
Even as recently as Friday, CBC was hearing from members who were still having problems reaching anyone by phone.
It's all led to worries that members might have to pay out-of-pocket for pricey prescriptions.
"There's a lot of public servants that are retired that are living, you know, on the edge. And without their public service health-care coverage, it's a significant financial strain," said Hartling, who also has an $1,800-a-month medication, among others, she needs to fill soon.
She's been trying to reach Canada Life on the phone because she's unsure if her prescriptions will go through and be covered, given the big transition. Her pharmacist has told her it's been hit-and-miss, she said.
"That would basically leave us strapped on a monthly basis, especially if this doesn't get resolved," she said.
"We're not going to go broke in the first week, but if we start having to cash out RRSPs ... there's a financial burden to that too."
In a statement to CBC, Canada Life said it's adding a "significant number" of staff to help meet the higher demand. The company said it hopes to get to a point where calls are answered in under one minute.
"We expect to make significant progress toward this over the next few weeks," the statement said.
"We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate members' patience during this transition period."
The company also acknowledged there was a temporary outage of their website on Tuesday, which was resolved the same day.
'Another Phoenix issue'
CBC also reached out to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and Treasury Board President Mona Fortier.
In a statement, TBS said the government has been in contact with Canada Life about wait times.
"Canada Life is taking immediate steps to address the high volume of calls being received, including increasing the number of call centre agents. Plan members can expect to see progressive improvements," TBS wrote.
"Plan members continue to be covered by their plans and claims are being processed."
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents the majority of public servants, released a message to members Friday saying the employer has an obligation to ensure the transition is seamless and must resolve issues "as quickly as possible."
But Stephen Hartling has doubts.
"It's sort of looking like it might turn into another Phoenix issue," Hartling said, likening the switch to the problematic pay system the federal government introduced in 2016. "Just a large government project that went awry right off the bat."
I'll admit that I was somewhat remiss in not paying attention when the switch to Canada Life was announced, however I have an excuse - I prefer paper to digital. The insurance companies prefer digital communication even when you have indicated paper; so any announcements they've sent me, any of the regular newsletters, any links to switch to the new company all went (unaware to me) to an email address that I hadn't used for several years. The communications that matter (or, up till now, thought had been the only ones that mattered), namely the scarce claims that I've sent in (actually only one in the last two years, for specs, (all my rx are submitted direct by the pharm) go by post and the payment comes by cheque. I provide banking info to very few agencies.
Anyway, the above story came to my attention by chance. I only opened it because it said "PSHCP". And that started a scramble over the past two days to see what I needed to do and complete in order that my regular prescriptions can be claimed - I had planned to call in my normal 3 month refill today since I have about a week's worth to go.
And thus I encountered many of the same "frustrations" detailed in the CBC article, primarily getting contact with a live human at Canada Life. If you call in you get the expected recording, press through the options for language and the menu to speak to a representative only to receive a message that due to call volume there are no representatives available so call at a later time and that you can go to their website to do "positive enrolment". If you go to their website and try to do positive enrolment, you are informed that you have to have a "unique link" that was emailed to you to do so; to solve that problem of not receiving that "link" they suggest (on their website) to contact them to speak to a representative about PSHCP or go to their website to do positive enrolment (a never ending circle of frustration). There was also the option of completing the positive enrolment by paper and mailing it in.
Since I thought that I may have a chance to get connected if I called early enough (they say their lines are open 0800 to 1700 hrs in each time zone), I got up early this morning to correspond to Newfie time. Did not work. Even at zero dark newfie, the message was still that no one was available due to call volume. After a couple of hours of redialing at regular intervals, I tried a different track. Instead of selecting to speak to a rep, I used the option they have for medical/dental offices calling about/on behalf of a patient (press 3). At last, something other that "no rep available" - now I was in a queue with an expected wait time of 20 to 30 minutes. A human being finally came on line about 35 minutes later. Thankfully, she was very pleasant and helpful and didn't penalize me for not being "a medical office". I explained my dilemma, she took my info and confirmed that I was in the PSHCP system (which had been migrated from Sun Life) but I still had to do "positive enrolment". When I explained the difficulty with "unique link", it was then that I became aware that all previous correspondence had been sent to my former, now defunct email address. Even when she tried to do it from her end, she encountered the same problem. When I asked her about paper enrolment, she said the timeline from receipt of the paper form to enrolment would be between 8 to 12 weeks. To change the email address (and get a link resent) would require me to do "positive enrolment" before they could do that.
Fortunately, with a little finagling and sleight of hand I was able to recover and access my former email address. Along with a few years worth of useless, unimportant correspondence and other assorted junk was a link (that would have expired tomorrow). I was able to complete the enrolment on-line today. Though I will take responsibility for the small part my digital idiosyncrasies may have played, much more blame must be laid on the insurance companies (both Sun Life and Canada Life) as well as whatever arm of government is responsible for PSHCP. And now, forewarned, I await the same switch of the Pensioners' Dental Care Plan next year to Canada Life.
Anyone else encounter difficulties with this switch? This has only been enrolment, I wondering now how efficient they will be with claims processing.
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