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A Superior Court of Ontario judge has approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging some Canada Post Corp. employees who participated in the medical care plan may have overpaid for their drug coverage.
Lead plaintiff Réal R. alleges that, since the beginning of 2008, Canada Post required plan participants to contribute 20 percent of the cost of their covered drugs, according to court documents. However, he says, that contribution can result in costs that exceed the maximum annual amount provided for by the Prescription Drug Insurance Act (AML).
A judge previously authorized a Class consisting of anyone who, at any time since July 8, 2013, is or has been an employee, or is a retired employee, of the Canada Post Corp., and who has resided in the province of Quebec since July 8, 2013, or who has resided there at any time since July 8, 2013, forward and who, when he or she was younger than 65, had to pay sums in excess of the maximum annual contribution provided for by the Prescription Drug Insurance Act due to insurance coverage offered by Canada Post as of July 8, 2013:
- $ 992 for the period between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014
- $ 1,006 for the period between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015
- $ 1,029 for the period between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016
- $ 1,046 for the period between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017
- $ 1,066 for the period between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018
- $ 1,087 for the period between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019
- $ 1,117 for the period between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020
- of $ 1,144 for the period between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021
The settlement agreement provided that a notice be sent to members; the notice was sent April 1, 2021.
The letter to all was sent to all active employees who were eligible for the Canada Post’s complementary medical care plan (RSMC) and retirees participating in the RSMC who reside in Quebec confirming their right to waive to the drug insurance coverage Canada Post offered under the RSMC and to register with Québec’s general drug insurance plan.
The plaintiff had requested reimbursement for the amounts plan members paid in excess of the maximum annual contribution since 2013.
However, the judge noted, as that request was based on the AML being applied to all Canada Post employees, it “had no chance [of] reasonable success” as the AML does not pertain to employees of the federal government.
Only three people objected to the settlement.
“The objections related to the allegedly too high costs of the coverage offered by the RSMC,” the judge wrote. “These costs, which are the result of negotiations between the unions and Canada Post, are outside the jurisdiction of the Tribunal” and therefore do not prevent approval.
Do you work for the Canada Post? Give us your thoughts on this settlement in the comments below.
The plaintiff is represented by Marc-Antoine Cloutier and Maryse Boucher of Trivium Avocats Inc. and Jean-Marc Lacourcière of Trudel Johnston & Lespérance.
The Canada Post Medical Care Plan Class Action Lawsuit is Réal R., et al. v. Canadian Postal Corp., et al., Case No. 500-06-000801-163, in the Superior Court of Quebec, District of Montreal.
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