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The global coronavirus pandemic has brought an array of health and economic challenges, which have been felt to various degrees in every corner of the world. In Canada, the life and health insurance industry, governments and employers have been working together to lessen the impact of the crisis by ensuring access to health benefits, virtual care and financial support.
“The insurance industry touches the lives of many Canadians, both customers and employees, and it has played a leading role in addressing emerging problems when COVID-19 hit,” says Stephen Frank, president and CEO, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, a voluntary association whose member companies account for 99 per cent of Canada’s life and health insurance business.
Like many Canadians, employees in the sector had to find a way to work at home, he notes. “There are about 156,000 people who administer health and drug benefit plans across Canada, and over 90 per cent of them are now working remotely.”
What’s more, this shift had to happen when “call centres were overwhelmed with inquiries about a myriad of issues,” says Mr. Frank. “We needed to sustain our services through the crisis, and we had our hands full helping employers and ensuring people’s claims and questions were serviced without interruption.”
Stephen Frank“COVID-19 has forced us to accelerate certain practices that allow the industry to interact with Canadians and health-care providers in a more efficient way.
President and CEO, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association
At the same time, health authorities encouraged Canadians to refrain from non-essential person-to-person contact, thus creating new challenges for patients to access health services. “Insurers have been working with health-care providers to adapt to virtual care and to continue to provide emergency dental and paramedical coverage for people requiring urgent care,” he says. “And we’ve taken steps so that Canadians can continue to access prescriptions for rare disease treatments or biologic drugs without interruption, with insurers temporarily extending renewals without the need for new physician information or lab tests.”
In order to help Canadians recovering from COVID-19 gain access to income support from day one, insurers waived the usual waiting period for short-term disability benefits as well as waiving requirements for doctor’s notes and lab tests in favour of self-declarations.
Another area of focus is mental health, with a recent Ipsos poll (conducted on behalf of Sun Life) revealing that as many as 59 per cent of Canadians indicate that their mental health has been negatively affected by COVID-19. “We know that people are worried about contracting the disease. They are worried about their families and about their jobs,” says Mr. Frank. “There has been a huge investment by the industry to improve access to mental health support as well as increasing the capacity to offer some of the services virtually.”
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The industry is redefining how health benefits are provided for Canadians and what types of online versus in-person supports allow for best outcomes, he says. “It has been exciting to see the application of virtual health care in a number of areas. This is a very positive development not only for times when physical distancing is required but also for enhancing access to care going forward.”
Canada’s life and health insurers also stepped up efforts to mitigate the economic impact when businesses were forced to shut down due to COVID-19-measures. “We’ve worked closely with employers to provide financial support to help them continue to provide health and dental benefits, often even to laid off employees,” says Mr. Frank. “Insurers have proactively provided premium refunds and other forms of premium deferrals to reduce costs for employers to help them and their employees get through the crisis.”
Paired with government measures, this support led to millions of dollars being reinvested, he says. “It’s important that businesses remain solvent so they can play a role in our economic recovery.”
The ability to mount a timely response to the pandemic came from a “groundwork laid by planning and investments from the industry over the years, which enabled us to roll out some critical actions within a week,” says Mr. Frank. “COVID-19 has forced us to accelerate certain practices that allow the industry to interact with Canadians and health-care providers in a more efficient way. And there is no doubt that this will lead to new products and innovation that can help us adapt to the new normal.”
However the pandemic will shape our future, “we know that Canada’s life and health insurers have a critical role to play in helping to keep Canadians healthy and stabilizing the economy,” says Mr. Frank.
Produced by Randall Anthony Communications. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved in its creation.