Health and Dental Insurance for Small Businesses

Improve your business’s health — with health and dental protection

As a small business owner, you are the anchor of your business and its most valuable asset. The health and profitability of your business starts with you — and your health.

How can you keep yourself and your business healthy? Healthy living is important, but it’s also important to have a plan in case of the unexpected.

Here are five ways health and dental coverage can help keep you and your business in top shape.

1. Be protected for expenses not covered by government health plans.

Medical costs continue to rise in Canada 1, and government health plans don’t cover everything. For example, your provincial plan won’t cover the following 2:

• Prescription drugs
• Vision care
• Dental care
• Ambulance services
• Therapy such as chiropractic, massage and physiotherapy
• Mental wellness

2. Prevent small problems from becoming big issues

Being proactive with your health can help stop problems before they start. For example, fixing a cavity costs five time more than a checkup.3 And yet, 22.4% of Canadians avoided going to the dentist one or more times in 2018 because of the cost.4

3. Better manage a medical condition that could cost you time off work

If you have an existing medical condition, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, overweight or asthma, you’re not alone. More than four out of every 10 Canadians over the age of 20 have a chronic condition.5 The good news is that with appropriate medication and treatment, you can stay on top of your condition and be your best for your business.

4. Preserve your savings and operational cash flow if you get sick

Accidents, medical emergencies and serious illnesses can happen to anyone at any time — nearly 1 in 2 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime.6 And these unexpected events can bring unexpected costs. Some cancer medications, for example, can cost $7,500 per month.7

5. Save on taxes

As a self-employed individual, you may be able to deduct health insurance premiums from your business income.8 If you are offering health benefits to your employees, you can generally deduct the cost of providing the plan as a business expense for tax purposes as well.9

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If you’re a small business owner with one or more employees, health and dental protection can help you in even more ways.

Attract and retain the best employees

33% of employees with a workplace health benefit plan say that it’s more important than government healthcare.10

53% of employees rate benefits as the top factor when considering a new role.11

71% of plan members agree that their health benefit plan is a strong incentive to stay with their current employer.10

Minimize downtime

70% of employees report having a chronic condition and/or chronic pain, and 58% say it has caused them to miss work or made it harder for them to do their job.10 A health and dental plan can help them better manage their condition, potentially reducing absenteeism.

Boost productivity

60% of benefits plan members view their plan as a way to help take care of their health.10 A health and dental plan can help prevent illness or injury across your company.

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Help keep yourself and your business healthy

To learn more about health and dental insurance and how it can help protect you and your business, please contact your advisor.

1 Benefits Canada, Health costs expected to rise 11.6% in 2019: report

2 Government of Canada, Understand how healthcare works in Canada, 2021

3 Dentist Prices, Canadian Dentist Prices

4 Statistics Canada, Health Fact Sheets, Dental Care, 2018

5 Government of Canada, Prevalence of Chronic Diseases Among Canadian Adults

6 Canadian Cancer Society, Cancer statistics at a glance, 2020

7 Plant, Cost for cancer drugs triples in Canada, still no national drug plan

8 As a self-employed individual, you may be able to deduct health insurance premiums from your business income instead of claiming it as a personal medical expense for the purpose of the medical expense tax credit. TaxTips.ca, Eligible Medical Expenses, 2021

9 Canada Revenue Agency, Business Expenses

10 Sanofi Canada, Healthcare Survey 2020

11 Benefits Canada, Half of Canadian employees considering a new job: survey, 2020

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