While American farmers are struggling to deal with widespread losses due to the sustained period of drought this summer, a second menace is thriving in the unusually dry climate. The USA is now facing its worst year of the annual West Nile Virus outbreak since the virus was first identified in the USA in 1999. To date, there have been 26 deaths and 693 confirmed cases of the virus in…

(The 2013 Annual International Insurance Review is available here)

In this article we will first present our findings of the premium increases and premium inflation rates in each region and country we studied, with specific…

The rise of the middle class in East Asia is proving to be a boon for private healthcare providers. Kuala Lumpur based IHH illustrates this nicely. In their recent IPO, which was 132 times oversubscribed, IHH raised more than USD 2 billion and the shares climbed by more than 10% in the first few days of trading. The value of the company stands at around USD 8 billion. IHH is now the second largest…

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) recently published a consultation paper titled, "Assessment Methodology for the Identification of Global Systemically Important Insurers". In the paper, the IAIS proposed criteria which will be used to classify insurers as "global systemically important" and invited public comment until 31 July 2012.  The paper was endorsed for consultation…

There is to be a vigorous shake up of the Slovak private health insurance industry. So vigorous in fact, that it's actually going to disappear altogether. The Slovak government has reached a decision this week that it wants to bring all health insurance under a single state run system. A move the government feels will save the Slovak state some money by stopping the flow of precious state funds…

There have been a number of notable changes in International Private Medical Health Insurance in the last few weeks, while not as earth shattering as the Libor scandal or the crop failures in the US, the progressive and continual changes reveal an industry that is currently very dynamic and competitive. While Bupa is launching products to fill gaps it sees in the IPMI market, US healthcare giant…

As the European financial situation becomes more uncertain with each day passing, Vhi Healthcare, Ireland's largest health insurance company must raise €300 million (US $368.55 million) which could affect the premiums of over 2.2 million Vhi policyholders. Vhi, short for Voluntary Health Insurance, is generally referred to as "The VHI" by residents of Ireland and is traded under the brand Vhi Healthcare.…

In recent announcements, AXA, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Co Ltd (ICBC) and Minmetals declared the launch of their foray into the China insurance market for life insurance. Officially branded as ICBC-AXA Life, the company recently received official approval from China's State Council…

Aviva Indonesia is introducing an International Health Insurance product offering to the Indonesian market in response to a growing number of expats and well heeled local Indonesians. The portfolio offers international health insurance coverage with limits between US$1-2 million, depending on the product, and will allow holders of a policy to travel internationally in order to receive qualifying…

A vote planned for October by EU lawmakers will most probably be postponed following the failure to reach an agreement on a final draft of the strict new set of rules proposed for regulating the insurance industry, known as Solvency II. EU officials and lawmakers failed to come to an agreement before the beginning of the European Parliament's annual summer break, and will now have to try and…