Some of the problems are long wait times and worries about coverage
Dorène Hartling has called Canada Life close to two dozen times in the last week, but she has never been able to reach an agent, no matter what time she calls.
She gets the same message almost right away.
“Our customer service reps are temporarily unavailable because they are getting more calls than usual.”
Hartling sighs and has only one word to describe how she feels: “frustration.”
She’s not on her own. On July 1, the largest health care plan in the country switched to Canada Life Assurance Company. This change affected more than 1.7 million federal employees, retirees, and their dependents.
Hartling, her husband Stephen, and many others have not had an easy time with the change.
Stress, frustratio
In the weeks before and after the Canada Day switch, CBC heard from a number of current and former public servants and veterans who didn’t like the change.
They ranged from having to wait for up to an hour to talk to someone on the phone to getting an automated message that no one is available and they can’t leave a voicemail.
Others have said they are worried about not getting a response to their emails and not being able to access their digital drug and dental benefit cards.
Even as late as Friday, CBC members were still having trouble getting in touch with people by phone.
All of this has made people worry that they might have to pay out of pocket for expensive prescriptions.
“There are a lot of retired public servants who are, you know, living on the edge. And without public service health care coverage, it’s a big financial burden,” said Hartling, who needs to fill soon a prescription that costs $1,800 a month and others.
She has been trying to call Canada Life because she doesn’t know if her prescriptions will go through and be covered with all the changes. She said that her pharmacist told her it was hit or miss.
She said, “That would pretty much leave us broke every month, especially if this doesn’t get fixed.”
“We won’t go bankrupt in the first week, but if we have to start cashing out RRSPs, that’s also a financial burden.”
Canada Life told CBC in a statement that it is adding a “significant number” of employees to help meet the higher demand. The company said that it wants to be able to answer calls in less than one minute.
The statement said, “We expect to make a lot of progress on this in the next few weeks.”
“We’re sorry for any trouble this has caused, and we appreciate members’ patience while we make this change.”
The company also said that their website was down for a short time on Tuesday, but that it was fixed the same day.
‘Another Phoenix issue
CBC also contacted the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and Mona Fortier, the president of the Treasury Board.
TBS said in a statement that the government has talked to Canada Life about wait times.
“Canada Life is taking immediate steps to deal with the high number of calls it is getting, such as hiring more people to work in its call center.Plan members can expect things to get better over time,” TBS wrote.
“Plan members continue to be covered by their plans, and claims are still being processed.”
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents most public servants, sent a message to its members on Friday saying that the employer has a duty to make sure the transition goes smoothly and must solve problems “as quickly as possible.”
But Stephen Hartling doesn’t think so.
“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.”