OGGO Committee Report

Canada Life Supplementary Report

Introduction

The Conservative Party has many concerns regarding not only the changes to, and lack of planning for, the new public service health care plan, but also the administration of the new plan.

The change of the contents of the public service health care plan at the same time as the administrator has placed undue hardship on public servants as they have tried to claim their benefits since July 1, 2023.

Process to procure the plan administrator

Information on how the new administrator for the PSHCP was chosen changed from what was initially reported. The public was told by the President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand, that Canada Life was chosen because it was the only option. Members have now learned that three companies competed for the contract.

Process to Change the PSHCP

The Liberal government, while in the process of retendering the plan administrator for the PSHCP, decided to change the benefits simultaneously.

These changes caused a miscommunication for thousands of members that were unsure if their benefits were rejected because of the differences in administrative requirements, for example documentation, between administrators changed, or if it was a change to the benefits themselves. Members were unsure throughout the process if the blame lied with Canada Life or the government due to the overlap of changes.

Failures in reimbursement and manual transfers

Many members of this plan were not properly reimbursed for months, which led to financial and medical challenges for members and their dependents. Those with severe health challenges, who did not have additional financial support, had to choose between their health and their financial security.

Members could not solve this problem themselves, as they could not get through to the call centre. This issue was exacerbated by the government’s mandatory manual transfer of information to Canada Life. There were many members who had not switched over by the required time which led to unreimbursed expenses. Additionally, those that did not have access to computers struggled to sign up as there was no clear paper process.

MSH International

MSH International is a subcontractor for Canada Life which experienced a security breach on February 9, 2024. This breach compromised the security of Canadians working abroad and prevented them from submitting claims for several weeks. This was in addition to the severe backlog that already existed under this subcontractor.

It is concerning that a plan administrator can claim to be secure and efficient, while simultaneously not maintaining the same service standards for their subcontractors.

There is still a backlog of claims that continue to impact Canadians abroad.

Conclusion

Instead of ensuring the change in administrators was as seamless as possible, this Liberal government decided to switch the administrator and plan benefits simultaneously. These changes led to numerous health impacts and missed benefits for members.

Recommendations

• 1. The inclusion of physiotherapy limitations has discriminated against seniors and people with disabilities. In future negotiations, the government should consider age and medical discrimination when making decisions.
• 2. The government should have standards not only for contractors, but also subcontractors to ensure the safety of Canadians’ information abroad and that those abroad have equal access to claim benefits.
• 3. Canada Life should cover any losses attributed to the lack of timely benefits as they were responsible for the influx of new plan members.