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  • About Blue Cross Health Insurance
    • Blue Cross health insurance features
  • Blue Cross health insurance product rating: 4.6 stars
  • The pros of Blue Cross health insurance
  • The cons of Blue Cross health insurance
  • Blue Cross health insurance alternatives
  • FAQ
moneyGenius Team
Written and Edited By

Blue Cross has been providing health insurance plans and coverage for Canadians for over 70 years. With flexible packages for both individuals and employer benefit plans, Blue Cross health insurance has an array of options available. Some options include prescription drug, vision, and hospital benefits, out-of-province emergency medical care, critical illness coverage, and short or long term disability coverage.

While we often hope that we'll never have to use our health insurance coverage, it’s always nice to have in case of emergencies. The right supplemental health insurance package can offset costs and give you added peace of mind.

Blue Cross health insurance features

Here’s an overview of the features you’ll get with Blue Cross health insurance:
Blue Cross
4.6
Genius Rating
Why You Want It
Get comprehensive health care coverage + Recognized insurance provider.
Special Features
  • Can include virtual health care (for certain regions)
  • Can include hearing aids
  • Can include medical equipment
Eligibility
  • Canadian citizen
  • Age of majority
Provinces
ALL
Features
Allows Customization?
Yes
Dental
Yes
Vision
Yes
Paramedical
Yes
Prescription
Yes
Travel Coverage
Yes
Hospital Room Coverage
Yes
Accidental Death And Dismemberment
Yes
Short-term Disability
Yes
Long-term Disability
Yes
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Blue Cross health insurance product rating: 4.6 stars

Blue Cross health insurance has a comprehensive array of flexible options that will let you customize your insurance coverage to meet your specific needs. And while supplemental health insurance is rarely cheap, Blue Cross insurance is competitively priced. In terms of customer service and support, Blue Cross has a solid track record for providing top-of-the-line service for their clients.

Rating methodology

To calculate our Genius Ratings, we compare the features of the account or product in question with other similar products in Canada. We give each feature a score out of 5 based on that comparison. Once we’ve rated all the features, we run them through our proprietary algorithm to produce a final rating out of 5.

Learn more about our rating methodology.

The pros of Blue Cross health insurance

Here are some of the many pros you can expect from Blue Cross health insurance.

Pros

pro Wide availability

Blue Cross health insurance is available in all provinces and territories, making it a top choice for Canadians everywhere. You’ll need to specify your region to take a look at what’s specifically available in your province or territory.

pro Flexibility and premium coverage

Blue Cross’ wide range of health, travel, and life insurance for both individuals and groups means you’ll likely find what you’re looking for. For health insurance, they offer the ultimate flexibility when it comes to their premium coverage packages, which include: prescription drug benefits, vision benefits, hospital benefits, dental benefits, health spending accounts, wellness spending accounts, out-of-province emergency medical care, critical illness coverage, and short term or long term disability coverage.

pro Virtual health care included

Compared to other insurance companies, Blue Cross is ahead of the game in adapting to today’s technological landscape. In 2019, they launched a Connected Care digital health platform, which would allow customers to access their services via a mobile app. The app has high reviews on both the iOS App Store and Google Play, making their inclusion of virtual health care excellent for convenience and accessibility. It’s important to keep in mind that this app is meant for Medavie Blue Cross, which includes group coverage for Ontario and Quebec, as well as coverage for Atlantic Canada.

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The cons of Blue Cross health insurance

Despite its pros, here’s what you need to look out for when considering Blue Cross health insurance.

Cons

con Plans may vary depending on region

Since Blue Cross encompasses such a large country (including locations in the U.S.), the specific plans available to you may vary depending on your province or territory. Blue Cross is a huge company made up of many sub-sections, which is why it’s important to look at health plans in your particular area and weigh them based on options available, cost, and quality.

con Difficult to navigate

Because there are so many options for different provinces and territories, it may be difficult for some to navigate and find or choose the right plan. Luckily, their customer service allows you to call or email for help, with different business hours depending on your region. If you’re unsure about committing to any specific plan, you can also get a quote to help you decide whether the price is right for you.

Blue Cross health insurance alternatives

Want to look around before opting into a health insurance policy? Here are some alternatives:

Blue CrossPolicyMeSun LifeCanada Life
AccountBlue Cross Health InsurancePolicyMe Dental And Health InsuranceSun Life Health InsuranceCanada Life Health Insurance
Genius Rating4.65.04.54.1
Why You Want ItGet comprehensive health care coverage + Recognized insurance provider.Extensive selection of health and dental plans.Get help from a virtual advisor + Choose from 3 personal health plans. Up to $250,000 in prescription drug coverage + No termination age.
Allows Customization?YesYesYesYes
DentalYesYesYesYes
VisionYesYesYesYes
ParamedicalYesYesYesYes
PrescriptionYesYesYesYes
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Get a quote
See more PolicyMe products
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Learn More
See more Sun Life products
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Learn More
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FAQ

How much is Blue Cross health insurance?

The cost and the amount of health care coverage you’ll get with Blue Cross will vary depending on what kind of coverage you’re looking for, as well as what province or territory you’re in. To get the most accurate information on costs and coverage amounts, it’s best to look up plans offered in your specific region on the Blue Cross website.

What does the Blue Cross Individual Health Plan include?

An individual health plan from Blue Cross includes supplementary benefits to each province’s already-existing government health plan for a single person. This includes prescription drug coverage, vision coverage, and hospital coverage. To weigh more of your options, check out our comparison of the top health insurance companies in Canada.

What types of insurance are offered by Blue Cross?

Blue Cross offers basic to extensive health, drug, dental, and hospital insurance. The additional features that you’ll receive depend on your location, but all provinces and territories include very flexible and comprehensive core insurance packages.

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Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone, and is not endorsed or sponsored by a bank, credit card issuer, rewards program or other entity. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
Genius Rating
 
0.8
6 total review(s)
5 Star
0%
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4 Star
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3 Star
0%
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2 Star
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1 Star
83%
83%
Sheila | March 17, 2025
Guess I should have gone blind instead!
Blue cross sucks. Didn't cover one cent of my cataracts surgery with lens implants. It's a surgery for God's sake! I'm out of pocket $2600.00!
Yvonne | April 18, 2024
Terrible to work with
Hard To Use
If I could give 0 stars I would. They are frigging useless. So glad my husband's changed.jobs and his new insurance isn't through these clowns. They take FOREBER to pay claims ajd you have to keep hounding them. I thought Canada Life was bad until his company switched to this loser company. Talk about bad to worse.
L | January 23, 2024
Charges doubles for 20% of the coverage of your average insurance
Disgusting company. I work in HR and have reviewed and used a couple other insurance companies in Canada. This place has the nerve to charge over double of other companies while providing a tiny fraction of what the others have. Needless to say, my new company is in the process of swapping to another company. Do NOT even consider Blue Cross unless you really hate who you're getting it for.
Jenn E | July 17, 2023
Awful option, all around
The claims process is archaic and I constantly need to swap between the app and desktop to get things done. Desktop only accepts JPG files, so won't allow you to upload PDF receipts. Claims cannot be submitted in batches at all. You have to file a completely separate one for each claim, and it doesn't allow you to save provider information for later - so you have to re-enter it a lot. Even when I want to use my Healthcare Spending Account, they will not let me until my husband's coverage has provided proof I have exhausted literally every other option. This results in me submitting to them, then to husband's account, then back to them. I asked a representative how to submit so I don't have to do this, and they told me to write it on the receipt that I want it through HSA. I did that, then waited 10 days, and got a response telling me I have to submit to his plan, so they just ignored that. Claims take FOREVER to process, especially if a human has to intervene. Coverage is awful. No massage coverage, and very little coverage for other services, like physiotherapy. Terrible coverage for many prescriptions. Have to constantly fight and provide lots of documentation for existing prescriptions - for example, I have extreme environmental allergies. My doctor prescribes me with a double strength drug for this, which I have to take year round. When I was switched to Blue Cross, they basically just wanted me to go to the pharmacy and buy out of pocket and take two of them, which would have resulted in massive personal costs for my health condition. I had to provide much paperwork to finally get them to accept my prescription. Won't cover things for skincare conditions - like creams/ointments.
Paul | January 30, 2023
Not good
They take a long time, up to or longer than a couple of weeks to answer claim questions and estimates. Coverage for many services is 80% of cost compared to Manulife which paid 100% (both up to a maximum expense of $500/year).

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