The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) is continuing in its effort to engage provinces in the discussion about dental benefits, infrastructure investment, automatic pension enrollment features and decumulation solutions.
Although many of the initiatives discussed are federal, the submissions to Nova Scotia and Manitoba, made in advance of the release of 2023 provincial budgets, follow earlier submissions made to Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Alberta, asking provinces to work together with the federal government while policy related to universal dental benefits and retirement decumulation solutions is being developed.
“Canada’s life and health insurers support the federal government’s efforts to provide access to those without dental coverage,” they write. “We believe that providing targeted support to those who do not have coverage helps fill the gaps and is fiscally responsible. However, we must ensure that as the federal program is expanded to more individuals, that the program does not put existing benefit plans at risk.”
The submissions also asks the provinces to allow automatic pension enrollment and contribution features and discusses 2021 legislation concerning Variable Payment Life Annuities (VPLAs) and Advanced Life Deferred Annuities (ALDAs).
“The CLHIA continues to believe that the VPLA legislation, as enacted, would only enable a select minority of Canadians participating in Defined Contribution (DC) pension plans or Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPP), as we estimate it requires at least 10,000 active members to provide the scale for a stable VPLA solution. The current measures do not take into consideration many other retirees who are members of smaller DC or PRPP plans that lack scale for a standalone VPLA solution,” they write. “We encourage the government to monitor and parallel federal measures to introduce ALDAs and VPLAs as new retirement income options. We also ask that the government encourage the federal government to permit standalone VPLAs.”
In both submissions, echoing earlier submissions made in PEI and Alberta, the association also discusses support for private sector investment in infrastructure projects, pointing out that insurance company’s long-term liabilities make them ideal, long-term financing partners for infrastructure projects, including public-private partnerships.
The submissions are also regionally focused, asking each of the provinces, respectively, to drop their sales taxes on life and health insurance premiums.
