Sun Life Health and Dental Insurance

Sun Life Financial Health Coverage Choice

Sun Life Individual Health Insurance Plans

Sun Life Financial is one of the largest Canadian insurance providers, widely known to the Canadian public, and commonly a provider of employer group coverage. They also provide supplemental health (and dental) coverage to individuals or families that have recently lost their group coverage at work due to retirement or other change of work status (replacement health plans), and/or to individuals that are self-employed or planning on retiring one day without having to worry so much about escalating health care costs or getting misdiagnosed (personal health plans).

A key added benefit of choosing Sun Life for your replacement or personal health plan is that all Sun Life health and dental plans come with access to the Best Doctors referral service, an international network of medical specialists that can assist plan members with diagnosis, recommending treatment program options, and with post treatment care to help with one's recovery process after a major medical set back. 

Health Coverage Choice — Replacement Coverage

Sun Life has five replacement plans to choose from: three with dental coverage and two without. As long as you are applying within 90 days of being covered by your group employer plan, no medical questionnaire is required to apply. Getting a quote for Sun Life plans is easy with BestQuote. Once the quote request form has been completed and submitted, you'll instantly see the Sun Life plans and their monthly prices beside other similar plans from other companies (GMS, Manulife, etc.).

You can then choose to view plan comparisons (between all the companies listed) by clicking on the green 'Compare Policies' tab. Enrolment to any replacement plans can be done online through BestQuote, but please call us at 1-888-888-0510 to discuss plan differences and to make a good choice for you and your family.

Here are the plan detail differences for Sun Life's three replacement plans:

Plan Details

 Health and dental choice A Health choice B Health choice C
Prescription drugs All 3 plans include:
  • Pay Direct drug card
  • No deductible
  • Smoking cessation medication ($250 lifetime maximum)
  • 80% reimbursement
  • $400 annual maximum
  • Up to $5.00 paid towards dispensing fee on prescriptions
  • 80% reimbursement
  • $1,000 annual maximum
  • Full coverage of reasonable and customary dispensing fees up to the plan reimbursement
  • 80% reimbursement
  • $2,000 annual maximum
  • Full coverage of reasonable and customary dispensing fees up to the plan reimbursement
Supplemental Health Care Reimbursement
  • 80% reimbursement
  • 100% reimbursement
  • 100% reimbursement
Hearing aids
  • $300 maximum every 5 years
  • $350 maximum every 5 years
  • $500 maximum every 5 years
Accidental dental
  • $2,000 per fracture or injury
  • $5,000 lifetime maximum
Ambulance
  • Ground ambulance service
  • No coverage for air ambulance
  • Ground ambulance service
  • No coverage for air ambulance
  • Ground ambulance service
  • Air ambulance $5,000 maximum per incident
In-home nursing 1
  • $2,500 annual maximum and a $20,000 lifetime maximum combined with medical equipment and services
  • $5,000 annual maximum and a $25,000 lifetime maximum
Medical equipment and services   Medical equipment and services have a $2,500 annual maximum and a $20,000 lifetime maximum combined with in-home nursing Medical equipment and services have a $2,500 annual maximum Medical equipment and services have a $5,000 annual maximum
Orthopaedic shoes
  • $150 annual maximum
  • $200 annual maximum
Blood glucose monitor
  • $150 every 5 years
  • $250 every 5 years
  • $300 every 5 years
Medically necessary wigs and hair pieces
  • $100 annual maximum
  • $350 lifetime maximum
  • $500 lifetime maximum
Wheelchairs, walkers, and traction kits
  • $1,000 lifetime maximum
  • $4,000 lifetime maximum
Hospital bed, oxygen
  • Reasonable and customary services and charges
  • $1,500 lifetime maximum for hospital beds
Casts, crutches
  • Reasonable and customary services and charges
  • $300 annual maximum
  • $500 annual maximum
Prosthetic appliances (e.g., artificial limbs)
  • Reasonable and customary services and charges
  • Reasonable and customary services and charges
  • Breast prosthesis: $200 annual maximum
Vision care Vision care includes coverage for:
  • Prescription eyeglasses
  • Prescription contact lenses
  • Prescription sunglasses
  • Laser eye surgery
  • 100% reimbursement
  • $150 maximum every 2 years, including $50 maximum per eye exam
  • 100% reimbursement
  • $200 maximum every 2 years, including $50 maximum per eye exam
Paramedical Practitioners Paramedical practitioners include:
  • Chiropractors, including 1 x-ray examination per calendar year
  • Registered massage therapists
  • Naturopaths and acupuncturists
  • Osteopaths, including 1 x-ray examination per calendar year
  • Physiotherapists
  • Podiatrists or chiropodists, including 1 x-ray examination per calendar year
  • Speech language pathologists
  • 80% reimbursement
  • $25 maximum per visit
  • Up to $250 per year, per practitioner
  • Psychologist: $50 per visit maximum up to $250 per year
  • 100% reimbursement
  • No per visit maximum
  • $300 per year for each practitioner and combined maximum up to $500 per calendar year
  • Psychologist: $60 per visit up to 7 visits per year
  • 100% reimbursement
  • No per visit maximum
  • $300 per year for each practitioner and combined maximum up to $650 per calendar year
  • Psychologist: $60 per visit up to 10 visits per year
Semi-private hospital room  
  • 50% reimbursement
  • $5,000 annual maximum
  • $175 daily maximum
  • 85% reimbursement
  • $5,000 annual maximum
  • Convalescent hospital: $20 per day up to 180 days per incident
  • $200 daily maximum
  • 85% reimbursement
  • $5,000 annual maximum
  • Convalescent hospital: $20 per day up to 180 days per incident
$ Combined lifetime maximum for above expenses
  • $250,000 lifetime maximum
  • $300,000 lifetime maximum
Emergency travel medical  
  • No coverage
  • 100% reimbursement
  • $1 million lifetime maximum
  • Coverage provided for the first 60 days of a trip
  • Covers travel outside your province or outside of Canada
  • Available until the age of 80
  • If you have a pre-existing medical condition where symptoms have appeared or required medical attention, hospitalization, or treatment (this includes changes in medication or dosage), and existed during the 9 months before your trip, expenses related to this condition are not included
Dental To be eligible for dental coverage, everyone on the application must have had dental coverage through your group benefits plan
  Included Optional
Preventive Services include:
  • Examinations and diagnosis
  • Tests, x-rays, and lab exams
  • White fillings
  • Scaling and extractions
  • Recall visits every 9 months
  • Minor emergency treatment
  • 80% reimbursement
  • $700 annual maximum
  • 80% reimbursement
  • $700 annual maximum combined with restorative
  • 80% reimbursement
  • Year 1: $750 annual maximum
  • Year 2+: $1,000 annual maximum combined with restorative
Restorative Services include:
  • Endodontics
  • Oral surgery
  • Onlays
  • Dentures (and repairs)
  • Periodontics
  • Crowns
  • Bridges
  • No coverage
  • 50% reimbursement
  • $700 annual maximum combined with preventive
  • 1-year waiting period before coverage begins
  • 50% reimbursement
  • $1,000 annual maximum combined with preventive
  • 1-year waiting period before coverage begins

Sun Life's Personal Health Insurance

Sun Life also has five personal health plans to choose from if it has been longer than 90 days since leaving your last employer plan. Their Basic plan is the most affordable plan, but you'll want to look closely at the benefit levels to see if it can be appropriate compared with their Standard or Enhanced plans (which come with or without dental coverage). Again, viewing plan comparisons is easy once you get a quote online with BestQuote: you can find a comparison of all Sun Life plans by clicking on the Compare link, or you can compare benefit levels across all company plans (i.e., side by side with Manulife, and GMS plans) by clicking on the Compare Policies tab.

Sun Life Health Plans provide access to Best Doctors' Expert Medical Opinion

With personal health insurance (or critical illness insurance) from Sun Life Financial, you can get access to Best Doctors — an international physician network that can help you understand your medical condition and treatment options. When you’re facing the uncertainty of a medical condition, through Best Doctors, Sun Life personal health insurance provides services to give you the information you need to feel confident about your diagnosis and treatment options; answer your medical questions and concerns; find a specialist or treatment facility either within or outside Canada; and navigate the Canadian healthcare system with useful resources.

Best Doctors programs help you make medical decisions with confidence. They provide access to leading medical experts, so you can feel safer knowing that you can have the right diagnosis and treatment plan. They help you get up-to-date answers to medical questions. This is an important aspect of the insurance coverage, whether you’re dealing with a chronic condition, questioning surgery or facing a life-threatening illness. Best Doctors can guide you and your family in the right direction, with greater peace of mind and certainty, knowing you've consulted with the best the industry has to offer. Being able to make well-informed decisions is what Best Doctors is about, and it's a standard benefit of being covered through Sun Life Financial. 

Click here for more information about Best Doctors, including their stand-alone private medical insurance for Canadians.