Life and health insurers paid out a record $114 billion, helping make life more affordable in 2022

TORONTO, Sept. 26, 2023 /CNW/ - Canada's life and health insurers paid out more than $312 million a day in benefits last year to help make life more affordable for Canadian families.

Canadians received a record $114 billion in benefits from life and health insurance products last year ? up 10 per cent from 2019. This included payments for health insurance claims, life insurance and insurance-based retirement products.

Among the other findings in the 2023 edition of Canadian Life & Health Insurance Facts are that last year, life and health insurers:

• provided coverage for over 29 million people ? or 74 per cent of Canadians, up nearly 2 million in the past decade
• paid a record $43.9 billion in claims for supplementary health, disability and accident coverage ? up 8 per cent
• paid out $14.3 billion in prescription drug claims ? up 8 per cent
• paid $650 million in mental health support claims ? up 10 per cent and nearly double since 2019
• employed over 170,000 Canadians ? up more than 3,000
• provided insurance products to over 100 million people worldwide

The number of Canadians covered by health insurance surpassed 27 million for the first time. Driven by increased employment following the pandemic, an additional 600,000 were enrolled in workplace health plans in 2022.

"During a year when many households faced higher prices and tough choices, over 29 million enjoyed the added financial protection that these products offer," Stephen Frank, President and CEO of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association said. "These families had prescriptions that were more accessible, retirement that was more secure and greater certainty that financial support would be available for their loved ones."

Twenty-two million had life insurance coverage, with life claims increasing about 12 per cent. And insurers provided retirement solutions to over nine million Canadians, paying out over $53 billion in retirement benefits.

Canadian Life & Health Insurance Facts is published annually by the CLHIA based on industry and publicly available data. It is available at clhia.ca/facts

The CLHIA is a voluntary association whose member companies account for 99 per cent of Canada's life and health insurance business. These insurers provide financial security products including life insurance, annuities (including RRSPs, RRIFs and pensions) and supplementary health insurance to over 29 million Canadians. They hold over $1 trillion in assets in Canada and employ more than 170,000 Canadians.

SOURCE Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.