PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is one of the largest professional services in the world. In 2007, it has earned $25 billion and employed over 160,000 people in 150 countries.

PwC’s three main services are the following: audit and assurance; tax; advisory and consulting
Its specializations include: consumer and industrial products and service; financial services; technology, information, communications and entertainment; government and public sector.

PwC has a global network of specialists that can provide help to investment managers and real estate companies in the areas of governance, risk management, financial reporting and business development strategies. They can advise clients on crucial matters like creating and preserve value in a highly competitive environment, navigating a wave of new regulation, and motivating and taking care of key people.

Generally, health insurance plans fall into two categories which are the Indemnity plans also known as the reimbursement plans, and Managed care plans such as health maintenance organizations (HMO), preferred provider organizations (PPO) and point of service plans (POS). In indemnity plan, it will allow you to select your own doctors and pay for your medical expenses which can be fully, partly or up to a particular amount per day for a specific number of days. While managed care plans offer a broader coverage but all involves arrangement between the insurer and a chosen network of health care providers like the doctors, hospitals, etc.

Hong Kong is a leading insurance center in Asia with a stock of $4.1 billion in foreign direct investment at the end of 1998.

Many foreign insurers and reinsurers, most in the business sector, have positioned to expand their market share in Hong Kong because there is a more liberal regional insurance market after the 1990 Asian financial crisis. China’s accession to the WTO helped accelerate this process

The US and the UK are among HongKong’s insurers as well as other big players in the market. The top 10 insurers take more than one third of the general insurance market while the top 10 long term insurers have more than 80% of the long term insurance market.

In the paper “The Global Insurance Industry Outlook 2005″, top 10 issues that the insurance industry has to deal with are outlined. It states that the insurance industry entered poised and take advantage of positive economic changes. Yet, the numerous U.S. investigations into allegations of improper conduct at the end of 2004, coupled with rising regulatory requirements around the world, have pushed compliance and risk management to the top of the agenda for many companies.

There are global trends taking place in the insurance industry. While each of these drivers of change is still relevant, viewing the industry against this backdrop can now provide only a superficial view because the world as we know it has moved on. Researchers have attempted to identify 10 of the most important current issues facing the industry globally and venture an opinion in relation to their implications.

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Sun Microsystems has introduced its Sun Distribution Channel Portal, with which it aims to help the insurance industry open up new markets and better serve customers by making it easier to develop new product distribution channels. The new package includes Sun servers, storage, services and software to help insurers quickly and cost-efficiently.

The global insurance industry treats weather and climate as business. Under climate change, extreme weather events like floods, hailstorms, cyclones and bushfires are expected to increase. A less predictable climate has the potential to reduce the industry’s capability to calculate, price and spread this weather-related risk.

Pre-Existing Condition
An illness or condition which was treated or diagnosed before the policy was issued. Many policies will not pay benefits for pre-existing conditions, or will only cover treatment of them after the policy has been in force for a specified period of time. This varies based on whether the policy is group or individual coverage.

Renewal and Premium Increase
Determine the conditions under which your policy may be renewed or the premiums increased. Ask what type of renewal provision applies to your policy.

Waiting Period
The amount of time you must wait after buying a policy before coverage begins.

Fee-for-Service Plans
Fee-for-Service plans often are called traditional or indemnity health insurance. Here, the health insurance company pays all or a portion of the bills after services are received by the insured. Other characteristics of a fee-for-service plan include: 1) no connection between the insurance company and the people who provide health care; 2) no restrictions on the doctors or hospitals you must use to receive health care; 3) a deductible may have to be paid before the policy begins to pay; and 4) co-payments may have to be paid each time you have a claim.

Source: ins.state.pa.us

Effective Period
The date health insurance protection begins.

Elimination Period
Specified number of days that you must be eligible for coverage or disabled before the policy begins to pay benefits.

Exclusions and Limitations
Conditions or circumstances in which benefits are not payable or may be limited. Some examples of exclusions are suicide or self-inflicted injuries, injuries resulting from war, on-the-job accidents covered by workers’ compensation, eye or dental treatment, cosmetic surgery, services for which no charge is made, and services that are not medically necessary. Some policies also may place limitations on or exclude treatment of mental illness or substance abuse.

Source: ins.state.pa.us

Coinsurance
The share of your covered expenses, usually a percentage, you must pay after the deductible is reached. For example, a policy may require you to pay twenty percent of the cost up to a certain dollar amount.

Conversion of Privileges
Allows the participant or beneficiaries to convert coverage to a different plan of insurance without providing evidence of insurability. The privilege granted by a group policy is to convert to an individual policy upon termination of group coverage.

Coordination of Benefits
Provisions in group policies that limit the total benefits payable under two or more group policies so that benefits do not exceed the actual amount of covered expenses incurred. COB is particularly important when a husband and wife each have obtained family coverage under separate group policies. Some policies may reduce the amount of benefits payable if benefits are payable under other insurance coverage.

Co-Payment
A specified dollar amount a subscriber to a managed care plan must pay for covered health care services. It is paid to the provider at the time the service is rendered.

Deductible
The initial amount of covered expenses a policyholder will have to pay before benefits are paid under the policy. Generally, the higher the deductible, the lower your premium. Remember, the deductible should not be so high that you could not afford to pay it should you become ill. Ask your agent or company representative if the deductible is a flat annual amount or if you must pay a deductible for each treatment, or for each family member. Some major medical policies have what is known as a “variable deductible” which means that the deductible will be the greater of a fixed dollar amount or the dollar amount or the total expense coverage.

Source: ins.state.pa.us