health – OLHI – Free, impartial help with your life & health insurance complaints

Going the distance (health)

Posted on: October 11, 2016

Mrs. O. had lung cancer and lived in a small, remote area. She needed radiation and chemo therapy and chose to go to a city about 400 kilometres away. Her provincial health care plan would reimburse her for travel and lodging expenses if she had to consult a specialist outside her region. Her group health insurance policy, through her employer, would reimburse her for the rest of what the provincial plan did not cover.

When Mrs. O. submitted her claim, her employer’s insurance company declined it. They said she should have gone instead to a hospital that was closer to her home by 30 kilometres. The insurance policy required that she travel to the closest hospital.

Mrs. O. brought the final position letter to OLHI for a free, independent review of the case. She told our Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) that traveling to the other hospital would have taken longer in travel time, even if it seemed closer from a distance perspective. She also said she chose the hospital she went to because her specialist was affiliated with it.

OLHI’s DRO reviewed all the information provided by Mrs. O. and by the insurance company. He discovered that the insurance policy carefully outlined reimbursement if a specialist was located more than 200 kilometres away from the person’s home, so long as the specialist was as close as possible to the person. Proximity was based on kilometres, not travel time. The DRO also learned that the provincial plan had declined reimbursement for the same reason.

After thorough review of the policy and discussions with Mrs. O., OLHI explained what the policy said and why Mrs. O. was not able to be reimbursed. The DRO also explained that, for this reason, OLHI believed that the insurance company had made the proper decision.

Disclaimer: Names, places and facts have been modified in order to protect the privacy of the parties involved. This case study is for illustration purposes only. Each complaint OLHI reviews contains different facts and contract wording may vary. As a result, the application of the principles expressed here may lead to different results in different cases.

Side effects of medications (health)

Posted on: August 27, 2016

Ms. E. had extended health insurance through her employer. She disclosed that she suffered from seizures. This insurance also covered out-of-country emergency medical expenses. While on vacation, Ms. E. became ill and was hospitalized. Doctors determined that she had a bad reaction to a drug she was taking to treat a pre-existing condition. While in hospital, Ms. E. became worse due to an unrelated illness and had to return to Canada immediately.

The insurance company covered the costs of Ms. E.’s transportation back home to continue her care. However, in their final position letter, they stated they would not cover treatment for her reaction to the drug. The company decided that Ms. E.’s pre-existing condition extended to any side effects from medications taken for this condition.

Ms. E. asked OLHI to become involved. She told our Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) that she believed her insurance company was setting a bad precedent. She said their decision could lead to denying coverage to any person on medication who suffers a side effect. For example, Ms. E. questioned what would happen if a person has a bad side effect from an over-the-counter pain reliever. Could the insurance company refuse to cover treatment, if this pain reliever treats a pre-existing condition?

The DRO recommended that an OmbudService Officer (OSO) investigate Ms. E.’s case. The OSO learned that a doctor saw Ms. E. when she returned to Canada. The doctor felt that it could not be proven with certainty that the Ms. E.’s problems were side effects of her medication. He suggested that her problems could have been caused by the unrelated illness she had after she was hospitalized.

The OSO contacted the insurance company’s Ombuds office. He advised that Ms. E.’s policy did not specify that it would not cover side effects from a medication. He also reinforced the fact that there was uncertainty around what caused Ms. E.’s illness. This made it impossible to tell, conclusively, that her treatment was for her pre-existing condition. He recommended that the insurer reconsider its position and pay Ms. E.’s claim.

The insurer, upon further reflection, agreed and provided payment on the out-of-country medical expenses.

Going the distance (health)

Posted on: June 16, 2016

Mrs. O. had lung cancer and lived in a small, remote area of her province. She needed radiation and chemo therapy and chose to go to a city about 400 kilometres away. Her provincial health care plan reimbursed her for travel and lodging expenses if she had to consult a specialist outside her region. Her group health insurance policy, through her employer, reimbursed her for the rest of what the provincial plan did not cover.

When Mrs. O. submitted her claim, her employer’s insurance company declined it. They said she should have gone instead to a hospital that was closer to her home by 30 kilometres than the other hospital she went to. The insurance policy required that she travel to the closest hospital.

Hidden history (health)

Posted on: June 16, 2016

Mr. Q. wanted to buy new glasses through his employer’s group health insurance plan. Employees could only buy new glasses every two years – a standard period for many plans. He could not remember the last time he bought glasses.

Logging onto the insurance company’s website, Mr. Q. accessed his personal list of transactions made over the last two years. He did not see any purchase for glasses during this time so he bought new glasses and submitted his claim.

The insurance company denied Mr. Q.’s claim because he had in fact purchased glasses the prior year. They said that this claim was listed under the website’s section about “My Claims” – and not under “My Transactions.” They explained that there were two lists on their website: one for claims that an employee filed online (My Transactions) and one for claims that employees filed manually (My Claims). Because Mr. Q. had submitted his glasses claim last year manually, it did not show up on his list of “My Transactions.”

The insurance company suggested that if Mr. Q. was dissatisfied with the decision, he could contact OLHI for a free, impartial review. He brought his final position letter to OLHI and a Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) started to review his case. Mr. Q. explained to the DRO that the insurance company’s website doesn’t direct people to look under both sections. Mr. Q. felt that a reasonable person would not think to check both places as a list of transactions implies all transactions ever made through his benefit plan.

OLHI’s DRO noted that Mr. Q. had a point: the website did not warn that an employee should look at both lists because each list showed a history of claims transactions depending on the way they were submitted. For this reason, OLHI contacted the insurance company and explained how confusing the process could be for an employee and how a mistake of this nature could be made.

The insurance company agreed to reimburse Mr. Q. for half of the cost of the glasses and he accepted this offer.

A limitless drug plan (health)

Posted on: June 15, 2016

Mrs. E.’s employer provided everyone in her company with extended health care coverage through a group plan. The plan reimbursed her for 80% of her drug costs, with no limit on cost or any other limits. On her 75^th birthday, her company benefits would end.

When she was 35, Mrs. E. was diagnosed with a severe liver disease. Her doctor, the leading Canadian specialist in this disease, prescribed Drug A, which costs more than $500,000 per year. It was clear that Mrs. E.’s condition would require life-long treatment.

For the first three months, Mrs. E. was reimbursed for the drugs. Afterward, the insurance company told her that another drug (Drug B) was available for free through a special provincial drug plan that covered expensive therapies. The insurance company declined her future coverage for Drug A.

Mrs. E. appealed this decision. The insurance company’s Ombudsman recommended that the claims department speak with her doctor. This doctor told them that Drug A was prescribed only because he did not want to burden the public plan with the cost of the medication, since Mrs. E.’s group plan provided ample coverage. In its’ final position letter, the insurance company declined payment, explaining that there was no reason why Mrs. E. could not take the free Drug B. The company told Mrs. E. that if she was not satisfied with the decision, she could ask OLHI for an independent, impartial and free review of the case.

Not long after, OLHI received a request to become involved. Our Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) carefully reviewed the insurance policy, noting that there were no limits on the dollar amount for drug claims and there were no other limits or exclusions. Going through the insurance company’s files, he saw a comment from the company’s Ombudsman noting the same things and suggesting that the claims department reconsider the denial. The DRO recommended this be escalated to an OmbudService Officer (OSO) for further review, particularly because he was unsure about whether Mrs. E. would even qualify under the special provincial plan.

OLHI’s OSO discovered that Mrs. E. could get full coverage for not only Drug B but also for Drug A through the provincial plan. As a result, the insurance company did not have to continue paying for her treatment.

Two plans, no payments (health)

Posted on: February 2, 2016

Mr. R. e-mailed OLHI because he was experiencing difficulty with the administration of his extended health care claims. He had an individual health insurance plan with Company A and he was also covered under his spouse’s group insurance plan with Company B.

For many years, he had submitted his health claims first to his individual plan, Company A, and then filed claims under his spouse’s group plan, Company B, for any residual expenses not covered by the individual plan. However, he was now being told by Company A to first submit his claims to his wife’s group plan. Mr. R. complied with this directive but Company B also refused to take responsibility as first payer. When he advised Company A of Company B’s response, Company A told him to sort the problem out himself.

As background, the health and dental benefits industry has developed a Coordination of Benefits (COB) Guideline that describes the order in which benefits are determined and how to coordinate health care or dental payments from all available group plans. Although there is no guideline prescribing the order in which benefits are determined for individual plans, there is a general consensus in the industry that group plans should be first payers. Company A was relying on this unwritten rule when it asked Mr. R. to file his claims with his wife’s group plan first.

The situation was further complicated by the fact that the group carrier, Company B, was not an OLHI member company and thus our Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) was unable to open up a dialogue with Company B on Mr. R.’s behalf. By way of explanation, although all federally incorporated life and health insurers are required to belong to an independent complaint resolution service and most choose OLHI due to our expertise in the field, provincially incorporated life and health insurers are not subject to this requirement, although many do choose to become OLHI members.

In an effort to work out a solution, OLHI’s DRO wrote to Company A’s Complaints Officer pointing out that it did not appear fair that Mr. R. should be disadvantaged or expected to sort out the problem himself, but OLHI could not approach Company B as it was a non-member insurance company. Our DRO suggested that Company A should contact Company B directly on behalf of its policyholder to bring about a mutually agreeable resolution.

That same day, Company A responded. It agreed with our DRO that Mr. R., as their policyholder, should not be disadvantaged by these circumstances or required to sort through the issue himself. Company A further confirmed that it would resume responsibility as the first payer of his claims, in recognition of the problems he was encountering with Company B.

Mr. R. was understandably pleased that OLHI was able to have facilitated a settlement that ensured both insurance companies would resume administration and payment of his health benefits claims, as opposed to neither processing and paying his expenses.