Isfeld: Fix medical insurance now for Canadians serving abroad

One of my favourite tasks as president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) is welcoming new recruits. These talented individuals are always eager to contribute their skills to a profession that demands excellence under difficult conditions.

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Yet, when questions turned to insurance company MSH International and accessing the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) outside of Canada, I was forced to tell the newest group something that was unthinkable to me when I joined the Foreign Service 31 years ago: their employer is failing to provide a functioning overseas health insurance plan. This has given PAFSO no option but to turn to the federal court in search of accountability.

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In July 2023, Canada Life and MSH International became the new administrators of the PSHCP, which provides essential health insurance for thousands of public servants and their families serving Canada abroad. Since this change, we’ve seen case after case of foreign service officers and their families being denied access to their basic PSHCP insurance coverage, even as premiums continue to be deducted from their pay.

Imagine being turned away from urgent care because your provider could not confirm coverage. Or spending costly days in intensive care, as a global pandemic raged around you, awaiting a second procedure because the company cannot be reached to give the green light. Even those paying out-of-pocket have often reported receiving arbitrary denials for their submitted claims.

Dedicated foreign service officers operate in difficult, high-stress environments, often thousands of miles from home; the very least they deserve is the assurance their employer will fulfil its duty to provide accessible health-care coverage.

Medical visits delayed or rejected by insurer

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PAFSO members are spending hours — sometimes days — fighting the system. The insurance provider’s employees are shockingly unfamiliar with the terms of the plan, forcing our members to doublecheck every detail. It’s difficult enough that some members have delayed important medical visits while others have felt deterred from seeking postings abroad.

None of us signed up for this. Our members in foreign countries are vulnerable and in need of essential medical care. They do not have access to provincial health care and are finding that their lifelines are failing them.

This issue is forcing those serving their country abroad, sometimes at significant personal risk, to shoulder additional administrative and financial burdens and stress. The employer’s failure to ensure foreign service officers can access health-care coverage, whether through MSH International or otherwise, is compromising our members’ trust, health and safety, and dignity.

Instead of accountability, we’ve seen nothing but Band-Aid measures and buck-passing — as we did with the Phoenix pay system.

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PAFSO has taken significant steps to fight these injustices on behalf of our members.

First, we filed a policy grievance, outlining the numerous violations of the health insurance plan and demanding immediate corrective action. The grievance was met with silence by the employer.

We escalated our battle by filing complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, targeting both the Government of Canada and MSH International for their failure to uphold basic human rights.

Despite these efforts, the situation remains unresolved.

Now, we have filed a writ of mandamus in court to compel the government to fulfil its legal obligations to employees and their families. We are demanding that the court order the government to step in, take control and ensure our members have adequate health insurance until this systemic failure is rectified.

We can’t keep waiting for MSH International to get its act together; the government must take the reins and make the system work. The time for half-measures and empty promises has long passed.

We will continue to fight, but we shouldn’t have to shame our government into meeting its responsibilities The foreign service community, not to mention Canada and its citizens, deserves better.

Pamela Isfeld is president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO).

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