Great-West Life Health Insurance Reviews

This is the worst of the worst. Was put on short term disability for heart issue, doctor would not renew my licence and I drive truck for a living. Had to wait 7 1/2 weeks for first pay cheque, and was about 1/4 of what I made. The Evil witch that looked after my claim could not give a care of my condition, she told me that I was running out of short term disability and if I applied for long term disability I probably would not get it, because not being able to drive is not covered, and I live 50 miles from work.
I had several claims with this company, because the company I work for goes with GWL, and every time just very negative. One time had dentist work done and was in the dentist chair, and dentist was doing work on my teeth, they tried submitting claim to see if I would be covered, and GWL wanted to talk to me to ask me a bunch of personal questions to verify it was me, I felt like 2 inches tall. The only people I would recommend this company to is my enemy's.

They often drag out the claims process in an attempt to avoid paying out a claim, which often puts customers in a position of having to cover expenses while waiting for a claim to be approved. The agent said that they "getting tones of faxes".
Requiring excessive paperwork to cover simple drugs .
Not good value for money

My spouse added me to her company plan when I switched to self-employed. Since it was impossible to do so on her online account, we contacted them. I was added. When I attempted a dental claim, the dentist sent it in electronically as usual with my spouse's claims. It went through fine.

Two weeks later we hadn't seen the money. My spouse called and GWL said they had no record of me on her plan and we had to submit a manual paper form for the first claim. My dentist did so, with my spouse's signature and my info on it.

Another week passes, still no money. I finished my dental work, submitted a second claim, and this time it came back saying my coverage was terminated. We called GWL on the spot and the rep said my coverage still wasn't active because they required information such as my relation to her, how long we've been together, etc. We answered all questions and they said everything would be fine.

Three days later we got an email saying the first claim had gone through and money was on the way. About a half hour after that, GWL called to tell us that they required all the info we have given over the phone in writing or my claim wouldn't be active.

Not only are they providing muddy and confusing communications to their clients, it seems they are not communicating with each other. I would never pay for a plan with GWL out of my own pocket.

This provider has horrible service, They take forever to process your claims and make every attempt to not pay when you get orthotics. They ask for every detail which is provided to them and sometimes they accept this and the next time they do not! Unacceptable service.

I have been had the great displeasure of having Great West be my health and dental provider for many years. This is the company my employer uses, so I am forced into using this very inefficient company. I have told them , if I could opt out I would have years ago. They constantly, lose receipts I send in, causing me to go back to the pharmacy or health practioner and request duplicate ones, don't pay claims they should, and now the topper for me, after having a drug paid for for ten years, decided maybe they will only pay a portion of it. They admit it was a mistake on their part but still are really putting me through the ringer, having me go back to my pharmacy for a third time over the same drug, to get old archived receipts. I have gone through numerous people at Great West, some very nice but with zero power to change anything, a very condescending supervisor, to one who is nice, understands my point of view, but blames the drug department for all the problems . This issue is still not resolved, this is a prescription I do not see going off of in the foreseeable future, so I continue doing battle to have it paid. I am at the point where I am starting to think they are just trying to see if I will go away and forget about the whole thing. I am meticulous about checking my paper work and if I were not this way, I would be out hundreds of dollars. Others that I work with, don't have the time or the interest to check their payments and I dare say, Great West is making tons of money of people like these. Very inefficient company, my next step is to go to the Ombudsman for this company. Really disgusting that this company gets richer by stealing from the benefits of hard working people. Shameful. If you have a choice in your provider, don't go here, you'll be sorry.

Been waiting 16 months for an easy claim. They always say they’re going to call but don’t. We call them like it’s our job. They won’t acknowledge the paper work we’ve sent several times. They won’t explain why it’s taking so long. They just say they will sort it out and call back, but never do. 16 months later and we’re still calling. Ridiculous. Wish we didn’t have to pay for this useless company through work.

Customer service and processing times have gone downhill drastically in recent years. It is almost impossible to get a hold of an agent by phone. After being on hold for 90 minutes you will be directed to a voice mail. Then you can expect to wait at least a couple days for them to call back. Processing times have gone from days to multiple weeks for claims and even simple requests. If I had it my way I would switch to another company. However since I'm a group plan member sponsored by my employer, the choice isn't mine. Given the current customer service standards and ridiculous processing times, I would not recommend Canada Life to anyone.

They take lots of money, but the coverage is not good, in terms of both dental and health benefits. They don't even cover breastfeeding pumps which most companies cover.

I have this garbage company's health insurance through the U of Calgary's Students Union which is included with fees. This plan only allows you to use dental choice offices as covered by the GWL plan. What they don't tell you is that your plan from semester to semester enters a supposed "black period or blackout period" even when I paid the full fees on my goddamn tuition. I end up having to pay out of pocket wasting 100s of dollars.

Very disappointed! Avoid this company if you want peace of mind. Very unhelpful, they don't even pick up the phone! How can I expect them to help me in real emergency if they don't even pick up!!!