healthcare matters

healthcare matters

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Welcome to healthcare matters, the Watson Wyatt publication that focuses on the health-related aspects of insurance and financial services, both products and service provision. Formerly known as the Healthcare market review, we have taken the opportunity to refresh the 'look and feel' of the publication as well as establishing a new name. The philosophy, however, remains unchanged for our healthcare publication - to highlight topical issues from around the world which may have relevance in your 'local' market.

This edition of healthcare matters has five articles:

Vaccinations for non-infectious diseases 

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 UK individual long-term protection markets 

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.

The Spanish health insurance market 

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.

UK payment protection insurance – where now? 

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?

Group health in India 

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.