If you are among the Society members or retirees at Bruce Power who have had problems with their health benefits since the company switched to Green Shield Canada, read on for important information and fill out the form to get help from the Society of United Professionals.
Earlier this year, Bruce Power switched the health benefits provider. The change from Great West Life (GWL) to Green Shield Canada (GSC) took effect on April 1, 2018. The Society of United Professionals nor any other union had a say in the decision. Employees were informed that all benefits would transfer to GSC seamlessly and the only changes would be improvements in service. This has not been the case.
Here are just some of the problems the Society of United Professionals has been made aware of by members:
- Drug coverage: drugs are not added to the formulary when approved by Health Canada and have even been removed, coverage levels have fluctuated, there are gaps that could affect retiree coverage, and pharmacy dispensing fees have been denied
- Benefits have been reduced for: dental and orthodontics, insulin pump and supplies, CPAP machines and air hoses, orthopedic shoes, visual motor therapy (no longer covered), psychotherapy, psychology, and naturopath services
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GSC is demanding new forms from doctors and second-guessing their medical decisions, including on: bloodwork, prescription and over-the-counter drugs,
and physiotherapy for chronic conditions -
Physiotherapy: GSC does not support physiotherapy for chronic conditions. After 20 sessions GSC has a requirement that a form be completed to justify on going treatment
and some requests for ongoing coverage have been unreasonably rejected
The Society distributed a brochure on this issue to most homes in the area to raise awareness and provide an opportunity for members to let us know how the GSC benefits problems have impacted them. Click here to download the brochure [PDF].