Great-West Life Health Insurance Reviews

I have been working with Great-West for my insurance coverage for nine years, alongside them is another insurance company for my husband. There is absolutely no comparison. Great-West should be embarrassed and disgusted by their “service” to clients. They have always been very slow to process claims and question everything on top of their slowness, however, in the last three months, they have become even worse with me. They have a claim that they have not processed since June 8! They have emailed me four times about it, asking for different information, as well as called the service provider about it July 30th and questioned them. What’s more, is that it doesn’t even show up on their online system as being received and under review! So I called last week and inquired about that claim and she said she could see it and everything looks fine so it should be processed in a few days. I said fine and I still want to speak to a manager. Still, no claim has been processed and no one has called me back! I have many other problems with this company but the list is too long to type here so I just put my recent problem. I caution any employer or individual thinking of going with this provider, you’ll regret it! I have talked to several other people at my work place and they have said the same thing - NIGHTMARE! Unless you want to be on a constant audit DO NOT go with this company! I wouldn’t give this company even one star if it were not mandatory for posting!

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.

They have an answering machine phone system, very hard to get an agent on the phone. They rarely return phone calls. Rarely return emails. Very difficult to fax documents as their fax machine seems to usually not work and takes days to weeks to get a hold of an agent to confirm whether fax went through. Then it seems like they don't even read medical records sent to them. Got my claim and appeal both denied which took 5 months total. Denials didn't mention any medical information sent to them, doctor's diagnosis, or doctor finding I was not medically fit for work. You'll hear lots about being 60% able to work. It doesn't matter if you are vomiting, dizzy, or having other flu-like symptoms. Doesn't matter your doctor finds you unfit for work and in need of bed rest. The whole system is corrupt by design. Don't worry about your claim being paid out, it won't be.

The insurance is full of surprises. I was claiming for my dental and apparently, it is not covered because the first crown was less than 5 years. There is no booklet with exceptions available even though I requested it already like 2 times. This is completely a rip-off. I have the right to know what are the exceptions in order to make a choice if I go to my dentist in Canada or Europe. In order to receive a response, it takes more than 2-3 weeks. This is not a support service at all...

Hey folks - robbery = GWL. They don't cover anything. Says 100% but an absolute scam! The ombudsman should be called in and this company should pay out the millions it owes to everyone! How can anyone work for this company? I get it, you're scared to change jobs. At least tell the management that they are scamming ppl and that is no the way to do business. What a horrible company.

Stay away!!! This company takes your money and doesn't honour their policies. Doing treatment for cancer and was told I didn't have the claim, so I was still able to do my job. Forced back to work and had to stop treatment, will work hard to get my employer to kick this company to the curb. Took them 3 months to figure my claim and just denied it anyways. Doctors and the company are confused about why the claim was denied. This insurance company is an example of what is wrong in the world today - greed. Stay away from this dollar store insurance company. If you work for a company like this, look in the mirror and ask yourself: can I make this a better world for my kids or will I be a part of the problem

Great-West Health/Dental insurance policy is disappointing compared to competitors. GWL only pays what a guide would indicate rather than what a service provider charges. This is a real cheap way out of providing health and dental coverage. My partner's insurance does pay the difference of what GWL does not pay (as her insurance company Sun Life has good customer policy). GWL has no problem taking my monthly fee but maybe they should change their policy to reflect other insurance companies. If my employer did not use GWL, I would not recommend GWL due to their cheapness (policies) in co-insurance.

This 'company' is a complete and utter farce run by callous individuals. Their policies are a joke, leaving you with little-to-no coverage. There are numerous occasions where I am reimbursed $2, $4, $5 as a result of how they run the numbers. I am inclined to call it a scam, but somehow these sneaky crooks play by their fine print rules and get away with it. I advise anyone of good ethical character to steer clear from any involvement with this 'company'.

This is the worst company ever. They don't care about their customers at all. Only care about pocketing the cash every month.
No return of call. Will go to great lengths not to pay indemnity.

I’m supposed to have group insurance for dental. However each year my out-of-pocket expenses go up and up while Great-West finds new ways to not pay for claims. Recently I had 2 fillings on 2 teeth that happened to have crowns on them. The crowns were not touched. The two teeth under the crowns had cavities where my gums receded. $430 was the cost and $0 was the benefit amount. They don’t cover fillings to teeth that have crowns on them. They consider this “crown repair” when the dentist never touched the crowns at all. This is just one of many ineligible claim excuses they come up with to render your dental plan with them practically useless. I’m going to be pushing our union to switch to a better provider. We have approximately 40,000 employees and many of us in my section are fed up with this company.