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Insurance Inflation Report for 2017 released by Pacific Prime
Over the past many years, insurance professionals and customers alike have gained valuable insight from the yearly publication of Pacific Prime’s International Private Medical Insurance inflation report. Since the first publishing of this report, it has proved to be a valuable resource for those that would like to know what the health insurance landscape has looked like globally over the past year, as well as those who would like to glean insights into the possible future of the IPMI market. Here, we will provide you with an overview of the information found in the report, as well as discuss how Singapore fared in it this year.
Insurance Inflation Report Sections
The bottom line for International Private Medical Insurance (IPMI) worldwide throughout 2016 is that (surprise, surprise) the average cost of plans went up by 9.2%. As it happens, this inflation rate was the same exact rate found by the report for the year 2015. Also as it happens, Pacific Prime predicted that inflation would continue at about the same rate in last year’s report. Beyond these ‘macro’ level trends, however, there is a whole host of more specific information included in the report. This includes the sections below:
Insurers – The 2017 insurance inflation report continues the tradition of looking at inflation as it relates to premiums from some of the industry’s most prominent insurers. This year, the insurers included are Aetna International, Allianz Worldwide Care, AXA PPP Healthcare, Bupa Global, Cigna Global, William Russell and Integra Global.
Considering the past year’s performance of these insurers, as well as the 5 year average of the premium inflation, Pacific Prime’s IPMI report shows that inflation rates depending on plan and insurer ranged anywhere from 3.86% to 19.64%. Clearly, with such an array of different inflation rates to be found, insurers are facing different issues when it comes to the premiums, however it’s interesting to see the same average rate of inflation for two consecutive years in light of this.
Inflation drivers – Every year, Pacific Prime likes to examine the reasons behind why the inflation that we see is what it is. For this we look at market factors as recognized by our staff, as well as the insurance companies themselves.
This past year there were four key inflation drivers that we have highlighted in previous reports – new medical technology, healthcare overutilization, increased compensation for medical staff, and imbalanced healthcare resources – but there were also some new drivers that appeared, including increasing availability of technology, changing global demographics and worldwide economic uncertainty. More information on each of these points can be found within the report.
Inflation by country – Perhaps the most valuable part of this insurance inflation report for those insurance customers that read it, as opposed to those working in the insurance industries, is being able to see how much they should expect their personal insurance premiums rise based on where they live. If your premiums rise less than the average, you may feel good for choosing an insurer that is stable, while if your premiums rise at a rate much greater than the average, you may want to take a look at whether you may find better premiums elsewhere.
Like previous editions of the IPMI report, the 2017 version starts with regional analyses across Asia, the Middle East and the ‘Rest of the World’. Within Asia, six countries are used to represent the region, including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, while Dubai represents the Middle East and the UK, Kenya and Brazil are the examples analyzed for other parts of the world.
Singapore and Asia highlights
On a regional level, Asia – which had been on par with the rest of the world when it came to IPMI inflation in 2014 and 2015 – saw a significantly higher inflation rate than the rest of the global average in 2016. The average inflation for the region came to 9.9%. However, the regions for this climb can be found in analysis of the individual countries included in the report.
Digging into Singapore specifically, there were some interesting findings that we noticed over the past year. Despite having one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world, combined with strong governmental regulation, Singapore insurers still could not escape a rising of premiums. The average total IPMI inflation that people saw in Singapore in 2016 came to be 11.2%, which was higher than the previous year’s inflation of 9.5%. While some factors attributed to this rise in inflation from 2015 remain the same, such as government upgrades to the healthcare system, rising private healthcare fees and an ageing population, some new factors should also be considered, including medical tourism, the arrival of new High Net Worth expats and government co-opting of private healthcare facilities.
Again, the information within this article is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what can be found inside the 2017 report. For this reason, we implore you to download a copy of the report for yourself and see what other interesting facts and trends are available. Beyond that, if you have any questions at all as it related to IPMI or your own health insurance, please contact the helpful, knowledgeable experts at Pacific Prime Singapore! We’re standing by to answer your queries, as well as supply international health insurance plan comparisons and price quotations.
With over 5 years of experience in the field, Suphanida spends the majority of her day synthesizing complex pieces of insurance-related information and translating this into easy-to-understand, engaging, and effective content across a variety of media such as articles, infographics, whitepapers, videos, and more.
Suphanida is also responsible for planning and publishing three whitepapers released annually by Pacific Prime: The State of Health Insurance Report, The Cost of Health Insurance Report, and The Global Employee Benefits Trends Report. Additionally, she handles the LinkedIn profiles of Pacific Prime’s Founder and CEO, as well as Global HR Lead.
Suphanida’s strengths lie in her strong research and analytical skills, which she has gained from her BA in Politics from the University of Warwick and Erasmus Mundus Joint MA in Journalism from Aarhus University and City, University of London.
Being of Thai-Indian origin and having lived, studied, and worked in Thailand, the UK, and Denmark, Suphanida also has a unique, multicultural perspective that helps her understand the struggles of expats and globetrotters.
Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to new places and immersing herself in different cultures.
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