Healthcover.ca can offer you various types of Canadian health insurance plans to Canadians. We offer group and individual plans. One thing all health insurance plans share in Canada is high inflation. While general inflation in Canada may be around 3 to 4%, inflation in the healthcare sector is currently 15 to 20% per year. The health trend factor is a culmination of all the rends in overall utilization, inflation and cost shifting between the private and public sectors. The trend factor is used to predict claims as closely as possible for the new policy year.

There are several key factors that increase the cost of providing health and dental insurance. These cost drivers influence healthcare trends by increasing the overall frequency of health claims, by increasing the cost of each claim, or both.

Health Care Cost Drivers 

The two main aspects of claim cost increases are utilization and claim cost. The cost drivers that affect the increase in utilization and the cost of claims include:

Aging Population 

The cost of an aging population: As employees age, their annual claim costs increase with prescription drugs being the most significant driver of age-related costs.

Drug utilization is closely associated with aging. Older plan members are more likely to be chronic users and will use the drug plan much more often than younger employees. 

Cardiac, antilipemic and hypotensive drugs are much more common at older ages and are also considered the most expensive drug therapies. Many conditions related to aging cannot be treated effectively with lower cost substitutes.

Now Drug Therapies

Trends towards using new drug therapy as an alternative to surgery. New diseases are discovered and new drug therapies are prescribed.

Old diseases can be treated with new drugs, where there existed limited or no treatment previously.

Paramedical Services

Next to drugs, paramedical services comprise the next largest expense under an Extended Health Care plan.

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