Great-West Life Group Benefits Insurance Reviews

I had a group plan via my employer with Great-West Life. I was diagnosed with Diabetes, Hypertension and was advised by the doctor that I was at High-risk to suffer a Stroke. But these scammers did not approve my claim even for one day to be off work and their excuse was, “many people suffer from it and they did not see a reason why I should be off work”. I had to quit my job to take care of my health. But the funny part is, I reluctantly applied for EI Sickness Benefits and was approved by them after showing the same Medical Certificate and Notes that I had provided to GWL. This clearly proves them to be unethical scammers and hope they get treated the same and worse thousand times over!

I've been insured with them through my work and have been paying into them for almost 2 years with no claims. I finally made a claim for orthopedic shoes and it has been a month since I sent them what they asked for - doctor's prescription and podiatrist's. They rejected my claim BY SENDING A LETTER THROUGH SNAIL MAIL!!! I can't even touch how bad an idea that is because it's slow and dated... ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY CAN CALL/EMAIL OR UPDATE MY FILE! I called to find out why, and I've had to wait on the phone for half an hour before a representative picks up and tells me the same things. They refuse to pay for my shoes because according to their system my condition requires orthotics, not ortho shoes. I asked them to cover my orthotic insoles and they said my plan doesn't cover those, only ortho shoes, but they won't pay for my shoes because my condition requires the insoles... I explained that my doctor told me to get both of them for my condition, but they are saying their system says otherwise and they don't cover insoles. Fast forward to a month and I've spoken to the supervisor twice and have only received the same runaround. This is literally the worst runaround in the history of runaround. It goes likes this: "Your doctor says you need these things but our system says you need only the insoles. We do not cover insoles for you but we do cover shoes for you. We can't give you shoes because according to our system you need insoles. We don't cover insoles for you." It is ridiculous! This is what I've had to hear for a month AFTER waiting on the phone for upwards of 20 minutes and up to a half-hour. Please! For the sake of your sanity, and your money, if your employer offers benefits through this company, don't waste your money because you can easily pay for your stuff without going through them if you choose to opt-out.

I'm under my partner's health benefits. Chiropractic care is listed at $500 per year covered at 100%. I had my initial assessment for $125. This was the least expensive that I found in my immediate area in Toronto. Only $68 was covered much to my surprise. After extensive time on the phone, I was told that they only cover the lowest amount offered in my area. Looking at the Ontario Chiropractic Association's website I found that they recommend a fee was $88 - $150 for an initial assessment in 2019. The company refused to share with me their supporting evidence showing how they found $68 to be the lowest cost per hour. This is honestly so frustrating. If a plan offers $500 covered at 100% I shouldn't be surprised that my first claim towards this amount isn't fully covered. Maybe there are smaller towns in Ontario where $68 is the cost of chiropractic care but in Toronto, you're unlikely to find this. There's nothing that makes me so upset as sneaky and deceptive behaviour.

Dealing with GWL on a disability claim for my wife has been completely abhorrent. As others have noted, if they can find ANY reason to deny the claim, they will. We have in writing from them that while her doctors may consider her unable to work, they don't agree (without justification given) so go back to work. Despite our request to be seen by a doctor of their choosing, they declined and stuck with their decision on appeal. If your employer defaults to their decision, as he does, then you are stuck with the employer demanding that she return to work despite doctors instructions she can't. The sad irony in this is she is paying for this 'coverage'. The sad footnote is every health care provider we have dealt with, has had nothing good to say about patient experiences with GWL.

Sadly through my workplace, we are forced to pay into this horrible company. They charge a fortune in monthly fees, yet cover nothing that other reputable insurance companies offer. A prime example is their pathetic mental health coverage. You can’t even get the cost of one appointment covered with a psychologist. Also, I’ve spoken to a few working moms who have coverage under their insurance policies for breast pumps. Big surprise, Great-West Life do not consider it essential. They do not care for their customers, they are simply out to gouge hard-working Canadians from their hard-earned money!

I recommend everyone to stay away from Great-West Life Group Dental Benefits! Twice I’ve had to get a crown on my teeth and both times they denied my claim stating that they determined that a filling was all that was needed! My dentist assured me that a filling would not work and this last tooth had a large chip to the point that my nerve was exposed! I’ve never had this many problems with any other Group Benefits Company!

This is about "Drug Insurance", which is not available in the Product type. The Ontario Pension Board's Ontario Public Service Pension Plan drug coverage is supposed to be 90% but Great-West Life Assurance has applied a $1,000/year limit on a specific drug. The information available from the Ontario Pension Board and from the Great-West Life Assurance's GroupNet websites state that the drug coverage is 90% without any exception. Great-West Life will not provide the insurance policy, only a sketchy self-excusing letter explaining the limit using Health Canada and other excuses to deny payment for copayment coverage for a drug I have been taking for at least 13 years at the same dosage. My doctor submitted a form requested by Great-West Life Assurance in which the reason for prescribing and the dosage was stated, which Great-West Life Assurance rejected. Great-West Life Assurance is dishonest. Ultimately, this will probably be settled in small claims court. It isn't just about the small amount of money involved, it is the principle that the information presented by the Ontario Pension Board and Great-West Life Assurance state specific coverage, which is not being honoured and, if there is an exception, that information is not provided, and the supposed exception to 90% coverage is for a different condition for the prescribed drug. The Ontario Treasury Board Secretariat is a party to the insurance policy agreement and will be named as a party in a small claims court lawsuit. If this is resolved in small claims court, it will cost Great-West Life Assurance and the taxpayer of Ontario a lot more money than the outstanding unreimbursed amount.

I have health insurance through work (AHS), applied for short-term disability and got denied. Have all the documentation from physician and specialist but yet I was denied. Why are we even paying premiums? Those adjusters don't even have medical backgrounds yet they decide how an insurance is judged!

I recently was really sick on a trip to Cuba, I am from Canada. My workplace has "travel assistance" coverage through Great West Life. I read through their benefit booklet before I left and felt assured that they would have the resources to help in an emergency. This is a quote from our benefits booklet. "This program provides medical assistance through a worldwide communications network that operates 24Hours a day. The Network Locates medical services and obtains Great West Life's approval of covered services, when required as a result of a medical emergency" They talk a good game, sounds pretty sophisticated, and sounds like they have resources to help. Unfortunately, I was violently ill in Cuba. We are all given an emergency travel assistance card, so I tried calling the number on the card. It didn't work. And they had a special number just for when you are in Cuba. There was also some fine print that mentioned you may need to dial "00" instead of 1 if you are in another country. I tried this, this also didn't work. So then I tried dialling "00" plus "1". And it worked! I got through. Now I will certainly get some help....not so. They had absolutely no medical assistance for me at all. I had to go and find my own...in Cuba....while violently ill. The customer service rep was like a cold robot. They didn't seem interested at all in providing help. I'm asking for help and all the guy wants is my address, my phone number and postal code. Another thing is, you need to call the number they give you first or they may not pay your claim. They then give improper instructions for dialling outside the country. So your claim can be denied. Highly unethical company, to the point of straight-up fraudulent in my opinion. We need stronger laws in Canada for this type of behaviour.

Calling in to their customer support will guarantee you to wait on the phone, as their call centre seems both understaffed and underqualified. Also the call centre agents are oblivious to my benefits and insisted I contact the HR of the company I am working for - what is their customer support centre's purpose then?

Website provides minimal information regarding group benefits plan to see what my coverage is. Coverage is pretty terrible for the money, some of the worst that I've seen from any group plans so far. Dental claims are often delayed or denied with no clear explanation. To give them credit, getting a pair of subscription glasses went moderately well, but even that somehow took longer than 4 weeks to process.