Canada’s life and health insurers paid out a record $128 billion in health and retirement benefits last year, up from $114 billion in 2022, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book.
“The benefits that life and health insurers provide through workplace plans and individual policies contributed significantly to Canadians’ health and financial security,” said Stephen Frank, president and chief executive officer of the CLHIA, in a press release. “To put this into context, the amount insurers paid out last year to Canadians is greater than what the federal government provided in old age benefits, child benefits and employment insurance combined.”
Read: Canadian insurers paid out record $114BN in health, retirement benefits in 2022: CLHIA
In 2023, health insurers paid out a record $48 billion in total claims, up from $43.9 billion in 2022. The breakdown for health benefits includes $15.3 billion for drugs, $11.3 billion for dental, $1.5 billion for vision, $1.5 billion for massage, $1 billion for other paramedical and $700 million for mental health. Other substantial claims paid out included $7.7 billion for long-term disability and $1.8 billion for short-term disability.
In terms of pension plans, insurers paid out $62.7 billion in annuities to retirees in 2023 and 66 per cent of this total was paid out to group plan members. Accumulation annuities have driven growth in retirement assets held by insurers, up an average of five per cent annually since 2013.
The fact book also noted insurers managed $382 billion of the $2.8 trillion in total private pension assets in 2023. This includes assets in roughly 15,000 private workplace plans provided to 3.1 million people.
Read: Claims paid out to support mental health up 75% since 2019: CLHIA