Illinois is a major center of the insurance industry. In 2001 there were 7.7 million ordinary life insurance policies in force with a total value of $503.1 billion; total value for all categories of life insurance (ordinary, group, industrial, and credit) was $879.5 billion. Death benefits paid that year totaled $2.45 billion. In 2003, 83 life and health insurance and 204 property and casualty insurance companies were domiciled in Illinois. In 2001, property and casualty insurers wrote premiums totaling $16.3 billion. That year, there were 45,199 flood insurance policies in force in the state, with a total value of $4.7 million.
Illinois fire and casualty companies are among the US leaders. State Farm is based in Bloomington, and Allstate, a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck is in Chicago. Blue Cross–Blue Shield, the nation's largest hospital and medical insurance program, is headquartered in Chicago.