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The use of vaccination in medical practice has a long and rich history, with Edward Jenner introducing the term in 1796 to describe the systematic use of cowpox (Latin – vacca) to inoculate individuals against highly virulent small pox. Since then vaccines have been developed for a whole succession of infectious diseases based on the concept of an initial controlled exposure to inactivated infective agents or component fragments, which produce an immune response that would protect the individual against future exposure.
The individual long-term protection markets (term assurances, whole of life assurances, critical illness and income protection) have traditionally been a valuable supply of new business for UK insurers, but will the economic downturn undermine this position? In this article, the recent trends and key strategic initiatives that may be required in the short to medium-term are considered.
According to the latest OECD data, Spanish expenditure on healthcare was 8.4 per cent of GDP (around €80,000 million) in 2006, which compared with the EU-15 average of 9.6 per cent of GDP. Of the total health expenditure in Spain, around 70 per cent was funded from public sources, with the remainder being drawn from the private sector through direct tax contributions, private health insurances and from private non-profit organisations.
The UK’s Competition Commission (CC) published its final conclusions and remedies for the payment protection insurance (PPI) market in January 2009. The effect of its actions is anticipated to make the sale of PPI more difficult and costly for insurers, with the result that fewer consumers will be covered. So who, if anyone, benefits?
In India, health products have experienced almost a four-fold increase in premium volume over the four years ending March 2008, with signs of continued strong growth in the last reported Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) data of December 2008.
Herceptin and Avastin are the forerunners of a potential avalanche of monoclonal antibodies (MABs) that have the potential to precipitate dramatic reductions in relative cancer survival rates, as well as improve the management of other diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
For many years income protection (IP) has been known as the ‘Cinderella’ product that never made it to the ball. It has also been referred to as the poor relation of the much more popular critical illness (CI) product. It reached its peak in individual new business sales in 2002 at just over 245,000 policies; since then however, sales have been declining at about 10 per cent per annum.
In July 2008, Ireland’s Supreme Court struck down the country’s risk equalisation scheme, under which health insurers with a younger age profile were required to make annual payments to competitors with a larger proportion of lives in the older age segments. The aim of the risk equalisation payments was to equitably neutralise the differences in insurers’ costs that arise due to variations in the age profile of the insurers.
The use of postcodes in mortality investigations has become increasingly common in the UK pensions sector, both for individual annuity pricing and in pricing bulk transactions. This article explores some of the pros and cons of the use of postcode in mortality analyses, and considers how postcode can most effectively be used.
As a result of population ageing in combination with high medical inflation, the cost of healthcare in the Netherlands is expected to increase sharply in the coming years. In 2005, the average cost of healthcare per capita in the Netherlands amounted to €4,200. This is expected to increase to €12,000 per capita in 2030 and €24,000 per capita in 2050. The key question is; to what extent the Dutch economy will be able to bear these costs in the future?
League tables are everywhere these days, but few lead to as much collective despondency in the UK as cancer comparisons with the rest of Europe and the US.
Medical insurance is currently the fastest growing line of general insurance business in Hong Kong.
The individual long-term protection markets, that is, for life cover, critical illness and income protection, represent a significant source of new business for product providers in the UK with in excess of 1.9 million policies written every year since 2002, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The existing solvency regime has been in place since the First EU Directive in the 1970s.
Less than a decade ago, the Netherlands was known (internationally) as the country with the highest number of long-term disabled people in proportion to the working population.
Critical illness policies, despite the name, have always covered a blend of medical diagnoses and surgical operations.
Since the last update on the Indian health insurance sector in the October 2005 Healthcare market review, both the healthcare provision and the health insurance markets have undergone significant change.
Healthcare financing and provision is changing throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This article provides an overview of the systems, reforms and financing in three of the post-communist countries in the region – Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
2007 is the 50th anniversary of the state-owned VHI, the original private medical insurance (PMI) company in Ireland. Since the introduction of PMI in Ireland, it has proven to be a popular and valued product.
In June 2007, Her Majesty’s Treasury department published its consultation paper, The publication of data associated with the use of gender in the assessment of insurance risks, regarding the implementation of the EU Equality Directive.
The widespread medical and public interest in cancer screening programmes and the provision of primary prevention are based on the tenet that detection of disease at an early stage provides the opportunity for treatment that may either delay or prevent further disease and death.
The provision or facilitation of various types of insurance through employers is a well established practice in the UK. Collectively, these group insurances accounted for premium revenue for insurers in excess of £3 billion in 2005. However, there is much to suggest that this figure could, and perhaps should, be even higher.
For many years critical illness (CI) was the fastest growing healthcare product line in the UK, however new sales have been declining since their peak in 2002.
From 1 January 2005, the way in which hospital and specialist care costs were financed in the Netherlands changed.
Considering whether critical illness data can help with a better understanding of mortality.
Analysing the impact of the changes to the UK’s standard critical illness definitions.
An overview of the health system, the insurance market and the key issues providers face.
The new system and the impact on the Dutch population and its insurers.
The latest initiative on one of the core critical illnesses and the potential implications.
Analysing the impact of this catalyst for change in the UK protection markets.
Assessing the issues and potential in Europe for voluntary health insurance.
An overview of the market for health related insurances (including critical illness) in selected territories.
Developments in the diagnosis and treatment of one of the core critical illnesses.
Key issues facing the health insurance sector in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
What has been happening to reviewable premiums.
The reforms in the Dutch disability system and the consequences for private insurers.
The application of generalised linear modelling for medical expenses insurance and mortality risk.
The impact of the Treating Customers Fairly and Pensions Simplication regulations.
Advancements in cancer screening and the implications for insurers.
A further opportunity for the income protection market?
Sue Elliott looks at the emerging US critical illness market.
Rosemary Commons and Mike Williams consider the Irish health insurance market.
John Tucci explores the current set-up.
The Dutch government is contemplating the introduction of a ‘standard medical care insurance’ with effect from January 2006. Maud Rommers describes the plans.
Daniel Ryan explores the issues.
Mike Williams considers the potential for health-related partnerships.
Sue Elliott explains the considerations.
Maud Rommers and Bart Kling highlight how timely investments in IT could lead to potential upsides from some unavoidable changes.
The cost of guarantees on health protection products has become a more pressing issue for the UK insurance industry. Andy Sanders explains...
Daniel Ryan highlights the lessons to learn from the UK’s critical illness experience...
Maud Rommers describes the current set up and the plans for future reforms...
Andy Sanders and Sue Elliott describe the changes and consider some of the implications for UK insurers...
May Lee Low explains the reasons for, and the current status of, predictive modelling of healthcare costs in the US...
Recent proposals for regulatory change in the UK suggest protection insurance distribution is entering a new era. Frank Fletcher examines some of the likely effects...
Sue Elliott considers recent rulings by the UK’s Financial Services Ombudsman and takes us through what’s been happening...
Mortality has long been an integral part of the fortunes of insurance companies, pension funds and the actuarial profession...
The Spanish health insurance market has experienced sustained growth over the past decade...
From its beginnings in the early 1990s to a product that now provides cover to perhaps as much as 15% of the working population, critical illness can rightly be considered one of the UK insurance industry's successes...
Although over the last 50 years, India has shown some improvements in its health infrastructure, it is at a far from satisfactory level...
Although still showing overall growth, the UK private medical insurance (PMI) market has been making news in recent months...
The critical illness product has been a major marketing success for the UK insurance industry. However the question that is increasingly being asked by both direct ...
The previous issue of Healthcare Market Review focused on the importance of the experience monitoring function within the overall management of the control cycle...
Cancer insurance is one of the major product classes in the Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese insurance markets...
The UK health system continues to generate headlines on a week by week basis...
With global expansion continuing through partnerships or acquisitions, business is evolving into giant networks of entities dispersed around the globe...
No one could accuse the broad health insurance industry of making it easy for customers. PMI, IPI, CIC, LTC, ASU to name but five TLAs (three letter acronyms) all address differing facets of ‘health’ insurance.
The underlying nature of the healthcare insurance risk is much more complex than the traditional life insurance risk.
In today’s health and financial services markets, ‘value for money’ is a fundamental goal for consumers, product providers and the Government alike.
Over the last several years, the US market has seen employer interest move from Integrated Disability Management (IDM), towards Total Absence Management (TAM)...
The common consensus across all developed countries has been that ageing populations will have a significant impact on a wide range of public policy areas, including healthcare.
Is the workplace the best affinity opportunity for healthcare?
Lessons from the USA
World health systems
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