This report features the most popular international health insurance plans from eight global insurers who offer the same plan in the 10 locations included in this report. This report reflects the following changes which has altered the list from the previous report:
- The inclusion of two Aetna plans
- The removal of two Bupa Global plans
- The addition of two new insurers: Cigna Global and IntegraGlobal
- The removal of Dubai from country comparison data
An explanation for Dubai’s exclusion is in its own section and Appendix A, however the short reason is due to the final implementation of mandatory health insurance in late 2016. This has forced insurers to implement new Dubai-centric plans that comply with mandatory health insurance regulation. As such, there was not enough historical data available to include an accurate measurement of inflation in 2016.
Putting Dubai aside, the list of insurers included in the 2017 IPMI report is:
- Aetna International - International Healthcare Plan
- Aetna International - Ultracare Plan (InterGlobal)
- Allianz Worldwide Care - International Healthcare Plans
- AXA PPP Healthcare – International Health Plan
- Bupa Global - Global Health Plan
- Cigna Global - Global Health Options
- William Russell - Elite Plan
- IntegraGlobal - Personal Health and Premier Plans
On a global scale, the global average IPMI increase in 2016 was 9.22%. Looking at insurers, Allianz Worldwide Care had the lowest increase by a long margin: 3.86% for 2016. The next three insurers with the lowest average inflation increases were:
- William Russell - 6.17%
- Bupa Global - 7.00%
- AXA PPP Healthcare - 7.17%
All other insurers ranged their average inflation increases between 8.98% and 19.64%. Bupa Global again posted the same inflation figures across all locations, a sign that it is sticking with the underwriting strategy and risk exposure from the previous year. IntegraGlobal posted the highest premium increases with increased inflation in Hong Kong (37.77%), China, and Singapore (both 31.21%). We understand that this is due to a change in the way they renew business. Its lowest inflation rate, 12.76%, was applied across Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, the UK, Kenya and Brazil.
Hong Kong, China and Singapore have the highest average inflation increases for all of our locations.
When looking at the five year average inflation of the insurers by country, insurance plans have seen premium inflation in countries range between 3.53% and 10.87%. Providers also continue to have higher inflation figures in the traditionally strong Asian countries (Hong Kong, China and Singapore), with most applying reduced or consistent increases in places like Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya.
Based on the five year average, the three insurers with the lowest IPMI inflation are:
- Aetna International - (InterGlobal) - 5.29%
- Allianz Worldwide Care - 6.66%
- William Russell - 7.53%
The five year averages for IntegraGlobal, Bupa Global, and Cigna Global were not available as we only have one year’s worth of data for their plans. They will be included in this ranking when we have more historical data.
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