Ottawa takes another precaution with Canada Life

The federal government is delaying Canada Life taking over the administration of the dental insurance plan for public service retirees. The National Association of Federal Retirees, however, fears delays or errors in processing reimbursement requests.

People are worried because people are afraid of reliving the same problems they experienced after Canada Life took over the Federal Public Service Health Care Plan.says the vice-president of the National Association of Federal Retirees, Hélène Nadeau.

Since last July, many government civil servants and retirees have had to deal with problems reimbursing medical expenses linked to the arrival of the new insurer. The complications were so numerous that Ottawa imposed financial sanctions on Canada Life.

People are worried, they are afraid.

The National Association of Federal Retirees claims to have received, in six months, more than 9,900 calls and emails from members looking for any support in obtaining adequate service from the new insurer.

This even forced the organization to hire three additional employees. The Association, which brings together 170,000 members, preferred not to take a chance: one of these people is still in office in preparation for the next transitionrelates Ms. Nadeau.

The Association asked Ottawa to do better

Given the extent of the problems, Hélène Nadeau points out that the National Association of Federal Retirees has asked the Treasury Board to delay the transfer of the Dental Services Plan for pensioners of the Sun Life to Canada Life.

We are very happy that the implementation is being pushed back to allow all the issues with the Public Service Health Care Plan to be resolved and to ensure that they learn from what happened.said Ms. Nadeau in an interview.

We are not 100% relieved, we are not 100% reassured, but we are encouraged.

The federal government retiree hopes that Canada Life will allow policyholders to make their reimbursement requests other than through its website.

It’s great to have electronic services, […] but we must not forget that it does not meet everyone’s needs. We must continue to ensure that these people are well served, otherwise we are talking about ageism.

The National Association of Federal Retirees has not received any guarantee that this will be possible.

The minister wants a transition harmonious

The President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand, maintains that the postponement of the transfer to Canada Life was done to ensure plan members and dental providers experience as little disruption as possible during this transition .

In a written statement, the minister adds that she is committed to ensure a smooth transition […] so that Canadians receive the high-quality service they expect.

My team is working closely with Canada Life to apply lessons learned from the Public Service Health Care Plan transition, with the goal of ensuring a smooth and effective change

The spokesperson for the Treasury Board Secretariat, Rola Salem, specifies in an email that Canada Life already has trained staff in place, which should greatly facilitate the transition to the new contract and ensure minimal impact on those currently participating in the plan .

Canada Life is also reassuring. In a written statement, the insurer indicates that it continues to collaborate with the government [pour que les fonctionnaires et retraités] have access to the care they need, when and where they need it.

Canada Life was initially scheduled to take over the administration of the Pensioners’ Dental Services Plan on July 1, 2024. Approximately 550,000 people are covered by this insurance plan.

Another admission of failure?

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) sees in the postponement of this takeover of the dental insurance plan for retirees by Canada Life another admission of failure by the federal government.

Earlier this month, a parliamentary committee that studied the fiasco surrounding Canada Life recommended that the government fully compensate public servants for unjustified delays or refusals of reimbursement requests.

But in addition to recognizing your mistakes, [le gouvernement devrait] Learn from one’s mistakes launches the national executive vice-president of thePSACAlex Silas.

The government should learn to stop implementing programs like this, transitions to providers like Canada Life, without it being well planned at the start.

Mr. Silas says he dream of a day when the federal government will introduce a payroll system or a drug insurance system without there being any problems . And the union leader believes it is possible, with careful planning and consultation with all stakeholders.