Health insurance companies in Canada, scored on the evidence

Public medicare covers physician and hospital care, but not most prescription drugs taken at home, dental care, vision care, or paramedical services like physiotherapy, chiropractic and mental-health therapy. Private (supplementary) health insurance is designed to pay for exactly these gaps, usually with an annual maximum for each category.

It depends on your health costs. Provincial coverage handles doctors and hospitals, but if you take regular prescriptions, need dental work, or use physiotherapy or therapy, those come out of pocket without supplementary coverage. Many Canadians get this through an employer; if you don’t have a workplace plan, an individual plan or — for dental — the Canadian Dental Care Plan may be worth it.

Individual extended-health and dental plans are priced by age, coverage level and family size, and cost more per dollar of coverage than group workplace plans because there’s no employer subsidy or group risk pooling. The right level depends on your expected drug, dental and paramedical claims — a plan is most cost-effective when your predictable annual costs are close to what it pays out.

The CDCP is a federal government program — not private insurance — that provides dental coverage to eligible Canadian residents without private dental insurance, below an income threshold. It has enrolled millions of Canadians since launching, narrowing the dental-coverage gap. If you qualify, it may reduce or remove your need for a private dental plan.

Yes — drug coverage is one of the core parts of an extended-health plan, and prescription drugs are the single largest category of private health benefits paid in Canada. Plans typically reimburse a percentage of eligible drug costs up to an annual maximum. Rising specialty and biologic drug costs are a major reason health premiums have been climbing.

Yes. Self-employed Canadians and those without workplace benefits can buy individual extended-health and dental plans directly from insurers. Some also use a Health Spending Account through their business. Because there’s no employer contribution, individual coverage is pricier than group — so it’s worth matching the plan closely to your actual expected claims.