American authorities have announced the closure of a "Maternity House" in the Californian city of San Gabriel, according to a New York Times report published March 29th, 2011. Neighborhood residents had complained repeatedly about the excessive noise coming from a local building, and the large number of pregnant…
China Pacific Insurance Group (CPIC Group), mainland China's third-largest life insurer, has posted a 16.3 percent increase in net profit for last year, up to 8.557 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) from 7.356 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion) in 2009, as premiums expanded. CPIC Group's Announcement of Audited Annual Results reported income from the insurance business in 2010 at 139.56 billion yuan (US$21.27…
Patients seeking private medical treatment in India will no longer be faced with an upcoming 5 percent service charge. India's federal government last week announced the rollback of the planned tax on health-care services after encountering substantial pressure from opposition political parties, the healthcare industry as well as the general public. Giving his general budget speech before Parliament,…
Industry analysts are expecting the increase in merger and acquisition activity in Thailand's healthcare sector to continue. Thai healthcare providers are determined to integrate more with one another to give them a national competitive advantage over the large foreign multinationals now entering the market. Under the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) agreements, by 2015 many industries will be increasingly…
South Korea currently boasts one of the ten largest insurance markets in the world with a particularly high-penetration rate in regards to life insurance. While the country's insurance sector is made available to foreign multinationals, both the life and non-life segments continue to be dominated by large domestic companies. In order to maintain their growth, Korean insurance firms are now looking…
A senior advisor from Qatar’s top health advisory body, the Supreme Council of Health, has announced that a broad national health insurance system with universal access for both citizens and visitors will be operable within the next 3 to 4 years.
Qatar’s Supreme Council of Health (SCH) was established by an Emir decree in 2005. The Council replaced both the former National Health Authority…
A series of new reports issued by both the UK Border Authority and the Department of Health outline plans the British government will take to ban foreigners from entry to Britain if they have previously amassed debts of £1,000 or more with NHS run hospitals. The measures are designed to reduce the £10 million in revenue thought to be lost each year through deliberate temporary migration to and access…
Swiss based insurer, the Baloise Group, has announced that it is taking over Belgium insurance company Ethias, which trades the insurance brands Nateus and Nateus Life. Subject to regulatory approval, the acquisition will see the Swiss insurer rapidly expand its presence in the Belgian life and non-life insurance sectors; the transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter 2011. Nateus…
The major British based insurer Legal & General (L&G) has unveiled a rise in pre-tax profits to reach £1.09 billion (US$1.74 billion) in 2010 - up from £1.07 billion (US$1.71 billion) delivered in 2009. Plans also identify opportunities for future growth in both the domestic UK and overseas insurance markets. L&G total sales worldwide grew by 28 percent - £1.8 billion (US$2.88 billion) - which was…
Projections foresee growth in 2011 topping 12% across the Malaysian insurance industry. The Malaysian government has unveiled stimulus plans and other legislative initiatives which together with an historically low interest rate environment have lead to very favorable conditions for growth in the insurance sector. All forecasts however need to be tempered by an awareness of uncertainties about the…
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