Your DGC Benefits Plan provides you and your family with valuable, affordable mental and physical health coverage and financial protection if you experience an illness, injury or disability. In this section, we explain how the plan works and what’s covered under each level.
Medical emergencies can happen anywhere, any time. With that in mind, the DGC Benefits Plan offers important insurance to help protect you and your family when you travel outside your home province.
Your out-of-province/country emergency medical insurance is based on your coverage level.
The plan covers the cost of medical care if you experience a sudden, unexpected injury or acute illness while traveling outside of your province of residence for vacation, business or education. If you are covered under your provincial health plan, the plan will cover reasonable and customary expenses for:
If you are in Level II or III and under age 80, the plan will cover expenses incurred within 90 days of your departure from Canada, unless you are still hospitalized at the end of the 90 days, in which case coverage will be extended until your release from hospital. The maximum benefit is $5 million per lifetime (up to $1 million if age 70 – 79).
Life Members who are under age 80 are covered for trips up to 90 days. The same dollar limits as above apply.
If your medical condition permits a return to Canada, your coverage will be the lesser of:
Lodging benefits are limited to moderate quality accommodation and $1,500 per confinement. Coverage for travel within Canada is limited to emergencies arising more than 500 kilometres from home.
Limitations
Exclusions listed under your health coverage also apply for emergency medical care.
In addition, emergency medical care services or supplies received out-of-province but in Canada, are not covered unless:
While you and your eligible dependants are traveling for vacation, business or education, you will have access to Global Medical Assistance (GMA), a world-wide communications network serviced by Global Excel. If you have a medical emergency, GMA can help you locate medical services and obtain approval from Canada Life for covered services — at any time of the day or night.
Subject to prior approval from Canada Life, covered services include:
Lodging benefits are limited to moderate quality accommodation and $1,500 per confinement. Coverage for travel within Canada is limited to emergencies arising more than 500 kilometres from home.
Limitations
Out-of-province/country coverage does not include trip cancellation insurance, trip interruption insurance, or coverage for lost or stolen baggage.
Out-of-province/country emergency medical insurance coverage ends when you no longer qualify as a member in Active Good Standing.
Your spouse’s coverage ends when your coverage ends.
Coverage for a dependant child ends when your coverage ends or the child no longer qualifies as a dependant – whichever comes first.
If you die while a member in Active Good Standing, the Trustees may offer to continue coverage to your dependants (spouse and dependant children) for a period of time based on your years of membership in the DGC (see table below).
YEARS OF DGC MEMBERSHIP | PERIOD OF CONTINUING COVERAGE |
|---|---|
Less than 15 years | 3 years |
15 – 19 years | 4 years |
20+ years | 5 years |
