The employees of large companies in particular typically constitute a good risk-sharing pool, allowing insurance to be provided at a lower overall cost. But the dominance of the insurance market by employer-provided plans means that the market for individual and small-group policies is underdeveloped and that the cost of such coverage is very high.
It has been a stronger period of growth than in Australia, the US or the UK. This growth has partly been driven by strong commodity prices and population changes, but partly also by strong household spending, fuelled by growth in house prices, and a readiness to take on increasing amounts of debt.