There are a range of illnesses that can prompt a self-funded employer to make a claim on their stop-loss insurance policy, but a new study by Sun Life Financial Inc. finds that a majority (53 percent) of the $5.3 billion in such claims paid by insurers from 2012 to 2015 came from just 10 ailments.

The study shows the incredible impact of cancer. All types of cancer account for more than a quarter of all stop-loss claims, with breast cancer alone accounting for 13 percent of the total reimbursements.

Claims that exceeded $1 million continue to be rare—only 319 during the four-year period—but they account for nearly a fifth of the total reimbursements.

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