Asthma medications, dermatological treatments and eczema now rank among the top 10 most reimbursed drug classes across all age groups in Beneva's group benefits book. Lung cancer has moved into the top three most frequently reported cancers. And the insurer says the trend lines are tracking alongside worsening climate conditions, not always lifestyle factors.
Christelle Lim-Severe (pictured right), sustainability practice leader at Beneva, said the industry has historically tied lung cancer to smoking, but questioned whether that remains the primary explanation. She said the claims data is pointing somewhere else – and the science is catching up to confirm it.
Dr. Scott Weichenthal (pictured left), a professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University, said the science backs that up.
"Smoking is a very important risk factor for lung cancer, but lung cancer in non-smokers is actually increasing now," Weichenthal said, speaking alongside Lim-Severe at Beneva's third health symposium in Toronto.
He said the biological mechanism driving cancer in non-smokers is different from what is seen in smokers, and environmental exposure, particularly from wildfire emissions, is a growing factor.
Wildfires release thousands of chemicals into the environment, many of them known carcinogens. Weichenthal's research has linked proximity to wildfire zones with elevated rates of lung and brain cancers. He said the risk extends beyond airborne exposure, when wildfires damage urban infrastructure, plastic water pipes can leach benzene, a known cause of leukemia, into the water supply.
"It's not really a question of if these events are going to increase cancer risk, it's just how much," he said.
The respiratory claims are equally tied to environmental exposure. Lim-Severe cited data from the Canadian Medical Association Journal showing that after heavy wildfire smoke in early June 2023, asthma-related visits to Ontario hospitals increased by 23% and stayed elevated for the following five days.
Weichenthal said roughly 40% of Canadians have a pollen allergy, and the season is getting longer. Research has shown that rising CO2 levels are making pollen more allergenic – meaning existing allergy sufferers are likely to experience worse symptoms and new cases are expected to rise.
Lim-Severe said the Quebec Lung Association has warned that if nothing changes, one in two people will have asthma or allergies by 2050.
Skin conditions have also emerged as a growing claims category. Weichenthal said increased heat and humidity are driving more dermatological irritation, and flooding can expose people to harmful substances in water. He said the trend was not initially on his radar until he began hearing it consistently from insurance industry contacts.
"In speaking with various insurance industries, I keep hearing this is one that's showing up," he said.
The mental health dimension adds another layer. Beneva partnered with the Université Laval's Mental Health Research Chair to study eco-anxiety – the emotional response to current and anticipated environmental crises. The findings showed that 69% of respondents reported moderate to high concern about the climate crisis, and 20% said it affected their daily functioning, including sleep and concentration. Among young people, the figure rose to 25%.
Lim-Severe said international insurance associations have flagged mental health as an emerging risk tied to climate, but the industry has lacked hard data on what that means for disability claims. The Beneva study was designed to begin filling that gap.
She said the scale of climate-related claims pressure is not going to resolve quickly. With 196 countries pledging net-zero emissions by 2050, the timeline stretches decades – and so does the exposure for group health and disability plans.
"Climate change is a long game, and that's why we need to continue to keep talking about it, because that's the prevention," she said.
Weichenthal said insurers are sitting on claims data that could directly inform how they understand and price climate-related health risk, but most have not organized it in a way that connects environmental exposure to claims outcomes.
"The interests of population health and public health are directly aligned with the insurance industry," he said. "We all want the population's health to be better."
