Freedom to Choose™ health and dental insurance FAQ
If you’ve got questions about health and dental insurance in general – and Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance more specifically – we’ve got answers.
As long as you are covered by provincial healthcare, you will always be offered coverage when you apply for one of our plans. Even if you have a pre-existing condition, we still have an option for you with our guaranteed acceptance plan.
Yes! You can add emergency travel medical insurance as extra coverage to any of our plans. It’s not available as a stand-alone product.
We’ll never deny you coverage, but your pre-existing conditions are needed to help us calculate your monthly premiums and to determine which plans you’ll be eligible for. It’s a very short questionnaire and we don’t ask for any medical tests like bloodwork or urine samples.
It depends. Some provinces offer drug coverage at age 65, but these programs are often constrained by a limited drug formulary, meaning medications you take or may need to take won’t be covered. That’s where private health insurance like Canada Life’s Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance can come in handy, because we generally cover double the amount of drugs compared to most provincial coverage. Don’t think you’ll need this extra coverage? We also offer plans without drug coverage that still help cover the cost of other common health needs as you get older, like home health care, mobility devices and hearing aids.
Yes! Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance offers multiple plans with varying levels of coverage to choose from. For example, you can choose a plan with dental – or without prescription drugs. You can further customise your plan by adding extra coverage like major dental or emergency travel medical insurance.
To qualify for Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance, you must be covered by a Canadian provincial or territorial health insurance plan. This means we can’t cover anyone temporarily visiting Canada from elsewhere.
We don’t cover this particular dental service, but our comprehensive coverage options can help you tackle the cost of other needs like fillings, check ups, and major dental expenses like dentures, crowns or bridges.
Our routine dental coverage includes services like check-ups, cleanings, fillings, x-rays and even costlier items like root canals and minor oral surgery. If you’re looking for coverage for services like crowns or dentures, you’ll need major dental coverage, which comes as part of our Guaranteed elite and Select complete plans and can be added to most of our other plans.
Our plans can cover many common prescription drug needs, including oral contraceptives, blood pressure medication, diabetic supplies and more.
General questions about health and dental insurance
Some services and products are included in provincial and territorial plans but many things aren’t covered, like dental care and some prescription drugs. Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance helps cover these and many other common medical costs.
If you live in Quebec and you don’t have prescription drug coverage through a group insurance plan with your employer, an association you are a member of, or your spouse’s group insurance plan, you are required to have prescription drug coverage through the RAMQ basic prescription drug insurance plan. If you are a Quebec resident, Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance provides supplemental coverage to the prescription drug coverage provided under the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) basic prescription drug insurance plan. Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance doesn’t remove your obligation to have drug coverage through the RAMQ drug public plan, through your employer or an association you are a member of or through the employer of your spouse.
Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance overview
Compared to a group plan with an employer, it’s actually a lower average premium. However, in a group plan the employer often pays a significant amount of the cost.
Absolutely not. You can cancel your coverage any time. If it’s within 10 days of getting your policy, you get the premium you’ve paid back, no questions asked. In the insurance industry, this is known as a 10-day free look. If you cancel after this time, you will only be charged to the end of the current month. For example, if you submit your cancellation on January 15, your policy will be terminated on January 31, and you will not be charged after that.
Yes to both. Children are covered up to age 21, or 25 if they’re full-time students, and working less than 30 hours a week.
Yes. If your disabled dependant is over 21 or 25, they can be added as a dependant to your policy. There are certain parameters they must meet. You can find this information in the policy booklet (available on each plan's detailed information page) or call us at 1-833-750-27881 8 3 3 7 5 0 2 7 8 8.
The primary applicant must be at least 18.
Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance offers different types of coverage for prescription drugs. Take our plan finder quiz to explore your options or explore our plans.
No, there is no physical or other medical exam required to qualify.
Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance coverage
You’re generally covered by your provincial healthcare plan when you travel in Canada. For travel outside of Canada, our plans offer optional coverage you can buy.
Freedom to Choose health and dental insurance may start on the first day of the month after we receive your application and approved you for coverage. For example, if we get your application in March, your coverage can start as early as April 1.
No, our plans don’t cover those medications.
Yes, all plans cover this.
Premiums
Premiums are due on the 15th of each month.
Yes, you can also pay semi-annually or annually.
Claims
It’s easy. For prescriptions, just show your drug card and the pharmacist deducts what’s covered. If you don’t have a drug card you can make a claim online through your online account or mail us the claim form. Most dental claims (and many paramedical services, like massage therapy or physiotherapy) are processed on the spot.
No. Just include the receipt when you make a claim.
Yes – provided you signed up for direct deposit. To set up direct deposit, go to your online account.
The Canada Life Assurance Company
Individual Health Unit
P.O. Box 6000
Winnipeg, MB R3C 3A5
You can also submit them electronically using your online account.
You can either mail the forms and receipts to us or submit them electronically through your online account.
To get reimbursed, you need to submit claims within 15 months of the service date.
Ready to get health and dental coverage?
If you’d like to explore plans and see how much they could cost you, get a quote.
