WorldWideScience

Sample records for insure bacterial diffusion

  1. Limited diffusive fluxes of substrate facilitate coexistence of two competing bacterial strains

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dechesne, Arnaud; Or, D.; Smets, Barth F.

    2008-01-01

    . It has been proposed, but never unambiguously experimentally tested, that a low substrate diffusive flux would impact bacterial diversity, by promoting the coexistence between slow-growing bacteria and their potentially faster-growing competitors. We used a simple experimental system, based on a Petri...... dish and a perforated Teflon((R)) membrane to control diffusive fluxes of substrate (benzoate) whilst permitting direct observation of bacterial colonies. The system was inoculated with prescribed strains of Pseudomonas, whose growth was quantified by microscopic monitoring of the fluorescent proteins...

  2. Optimal Reinsurance-Investment Problem for an Insurer and a Reinsurer with Jump-Diffusion Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanlei Hu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The optimal reinsurance-investment strategies considering the interests of both the insurer and reinsurer are investigated. The surplus process is assumed to follow a jump-diffusion process and the insurer is permitted to purchase proportional reinsurance from the reinsurer. Applying dynamic programming approach and dual theory, the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations are derived and the optimal strategies for exponential utility function are obtained. In addition, several sensitivity analyses and numerical illustrations in the case with exponential claiming distributions are presented to analyze the effects of parameters about the optimal strategies.

  3. Optimal Control for Insurers with a Jump-diffusion Risk Pro cess

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WU Kun; XIAO Jian-wu; LUO Rong-hua

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, the optimal XL-reinsurance of an insurer with jump-diffusion risk process is studied. With the assumptions that the risk process is a compound Possion pro-cess perturbed by a standard Brownian motion and the reinsurance premium is calculated according to the variance principle, the implicit expression of the priority and corresponding value function when the utility function is exponential are obtained. At last, the value func-tion is argued, the properties of the priority about parameters are discussed and numerical results of the priority for various claim-size distributions are shown.

  4. Diffusion-weighted imaging in acute bacterial meningitis in infancy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jan, W.; Zimmerman, R.A.; Bilaniuk, L.T.; Hunter, J.V.; Simon, E.M.; Haselgrove, J. [Department of Radiology, Children' s Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, PA 19104, Philadelphia (United States)

    2003-09-01

    Bacterial meningitis is frequently fatal or leads to severe neurological impairment. Complications such as vasculitis, resulting in infarcts, should be anticipated and dealt with promptly. Our aim was to demonstrate the complications of meningitis by diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in patients who deteriorated despite therapy. We studied 13 infants between the ages of 1 day and 32 months who presented with symptoms ranging from fever and vomiting to seizures, encephalopathy and coma due to bacterial meningitis, performing MRI, including DWI, 2-5 days after presentation. Multiple infarcts were found on DWI in 12 of the 13, most commonly in the frontal lobes (in 10). Global involvement was seen in four children, three of whom died; the fourth had a very poor outcome. In one case abnormalities on DWI were due to subdural empyemas. We diagnosed vasculitis in three of five patients studied with MRA. We think DWI an important part of an MRI study in infants with meningitis. Small cortical or deep white-matter infarcts due to septic vasculitis can lead to tissue damage not easily recognized on routine imaging and DWI can be used to confirm that extra-axial collections represent empyemas. (orig.)

  5. Diffusion-weighted imaging in acute bacterial meningitis in infancy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jan, W.; Zimmerman, R.A.; Bilaniuk, L.T.; Hunter, J.V.; Simon, E.M.; Haselgrove, J.

    2003-01-01

    Bacterial meningitis is frequently fatal or leads to severe neurological impairment. Complications such as vasculitis, resulting in infarcts, should be anticipated and dealt with promptly. Our aim was to demonstrate the complications of meningitis by diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in patients who deteriorated despite therapy. We studied 13 infants between the ages of 1 day and 32 months who presented with symptoms ranging from fever and vomiting to seizures, encephalopathy and coma due to bacterial meningitis, performing MRI, including DWI, 2-5 days after presentation. Multiple infarcts were found on DWI in 12 of the 13, most commonly in the frontal lobes (in 10). Global involvement was seen in four children, three of whom died; the fourth had a very poor outcome. In one case abnormalities on DWI were due to subdural empyemas. We diagnosed vasculitis in three of five patients studied with MRA. We think DWI an important part of an MRI study in infants with meningitis. Small cortical or deep white-matter infarcts due to septic vasculitis can lead to tissue damage not easily recognized on routine imaging and DWI can be used to confirm that extra-axial collections represent empyemas. (orig.)

  6. Quantifying Multistate Cytoplasmic Molecular Diffusion in Bacterial Cells via Inverse Transform of Confined Displacement Distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Tai-Yen; Jung, Won; Santiago, Ace George; Yang, Feng; Krzemiński, Łukasz; Chen, Peng

    2015-11-12

    Single-molecule tracking (SMT) of fluorescently tagged cytoplasmic proteins can provide valuable information on the underlying biological processes in living cells via subsequent analysis of the displacement distributions; however, the confinement effect originated from the small size of a bacterial cell skews the protein's displacement distribution and complicates the quantification of the intrinsic diffusive behaviors. Using the inverse transformation method, we convert the skewed displacement distribution (for both 2D and 3D imaging conditions) back to that in free space for systems containing one or multiple (non)interconverting Brownian diffusion states, from which we can reliably extract the number of diffusion states as well as their intrinsic diffusion coefficients and respective fractional populations. We further demonstrate a successful application to experimental SMT data of a transcription factor in living E. coli cells. This work allows a direct quantitative connection between cytoplasmic SMT data with diffusion theory for analyzing molecular diffusive behavior in live bacteria.

  7. Double-tagged fluorescent bacterial bioreporter for the study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon diffusion and bioavailability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tecon, Robin; Binggeli, Olivier; van der Meer, Jan R

    2009-09-01

    Bacterial degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ubiquitous contaminants from oil and coal, is typically limited by poor accessibility of the contaminant to the bacteria. In order to measure PAH availability in complex systems, we designed a number of diffusion-based assays with a double-tagged bacterial reporter strain Burkholderia sartisoli RP037-mChe. The reporter strain is capable of mineralizing phenanthrene (PHE) and induces the expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) as a function of the PAH flux to the cell. At the same time, it produces a second autofluorescent protein (mCherry) in constitutive manner. Quantitative epifluorescence imaging was deployed in order to record reporter signals as a function of PAH availability. The reporter strain expressed eGFP proportionally to dosages of naphthalene or PHE in batch liquid cultures. To detect PAH diffusion from solid materials the reporter cells were embedded in 2 cm-sized agarose gel patches, and fluorescence was recorded over time for both markers as a function of distance to the PAH source. eGFP fluorescence gradients measured on known amounts of naphthalene or PHE served as calibration for quantifying PAH availability from contaminated soils. To detect reporter gene expression at even smaller diffusion distances, we mixed and immobilized cells with contaminated soils in an agarose gel. eGFP fluorescence measurements confirmed gel patch diffusion results that exposure to 2-3 mg lampblack soil gave four times higher expression than to material contaminated with 10 or 1 (mg PHE) g(-1).

  8. Double-tagged fluorescent bacterial bioreporter for the study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon diffusion and bioavailability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tecon, R.; Binggeli, O.; van der Meer, J.R. [University of Lausanne, Lausanne (Switzerland). Dept. of Fundamental Microbiology

    2009-09-15

    Bacterial degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ubiquitous contaminants from oil and coal, is typically limited by poor accessibility of the contaminant to the bacteria. In order to measure PAH availability in complex systems, we designed a number of diffusion-based assays with a double-tagged bacterial reporter strain Burkholderia sartisoli RP037-mChe. The reporter strain is capable of mineralizing phenanthrene (PHE) and induces the expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) as a function of the PAH flux to the cell. At the same time, it produces a second autofluorescent protein (mCherry) in constitutive manner. Quantitative epifluorescence imaging was deployed in order to record reporter signals as a function of PAH availability. The reporter strain expressed eGFP proportionally to dosages of naphthalene or PHE in batch liquid cultures. To detect PAH diffusion from solid materials the reporter cells were embedded in 2 cm-sized agarose gel patches, and fluorescence was recorded over time for both markers as a function of distance to the PAH source. eGFP fluorescence gradients measured on known amounts of naphthalene or PHE served as calibration for quantifying PAH availability from contaminated soils. To detect reporter gene expression at even smaller diffusion distances, we mixed and immobilized cells with contaminated soils in an agarose gel. eGFP fluorescence measurements confirmed gel patch diffusion results that exposure to 2-3 mg lampblack soil gave four times higher expression than to material contaminated with 10 or 1 (mg PHE) g{sup -1}.

  9. Can broader diffusion of value-based insurance design increase benefits from US health care without increasing costs? Evidence from a computer simulation model.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R Scott Braithwaite

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that cost sharing (i.e.,copayments and deductibles decreases health expenditures but also reduces essential care. Value-based insurance design (VBID has been proposed to encourage essential care while controlling health expenditures. Our objective was to estimate the impact of broader diffusion of VBID on US health care benefits and costs. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used a published computer simulation of costs and life expectancy gains from US health care to estimate the impact of broader diffusion of VBID. Two scenarios were analyzed: (1 applying VBID solely to pharmacy benefits and (2 applying VBID to both pharmacy benefits and other health care services (e.g., devices. We assumed that cost sharing would be eliminated for high-value services ($300,000 per life-year. All costs are provided in 2003 US dollars. Our simulation estimated that approximately 60% of health expenditures in the US are spent on low-value services, 20% are spent on intermediate-value services, and 20% are spent on high-value services. Correspondingly, the vast majority (80% of health expenditures would have cost sharing that is impacted by VBID. With prevailing patterns of cost sharing, health care conferred 4.70 life-years at a per-capita annual expenditure of US$5,688. Broader diffusion of VBID to pharmaceuticals increased the benefit conferred by health care by 0.03 to 0.05 additional life-years, without increasing costs and without increasing out-of-pocket payments. Broader diffusion of VBID to other health care services could increase the benefit conferred by health care by 0.24 to 0.44 additional life-years, also without increasing costs and without increasing overall out-of-pocket payments. Among those without health insurance, using cost saving from VBID to subsidize insurance coverage would increase the benefit conferred by health care by 1.21 life-years, a 31% increase. CONCLUSION: Broader diffusion of VBID may amplify benefits from

  10. Can broader diffusion of value-based insurance design increase benefits from US health care without increasing costs? Evidence from a computer simulation model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braithwaite, R Scott; Omokaro, Cynthia; Justice, Amy C; Nucifora, Kimberly; Roberts, Mark S

    2010-02-16

    Evidence suggests that cost sharing (i.e.,copayments and deductibles) decreases health expenditures but also reduces essential care. Value-based insurance design (VBID) has been proposed to encourage essential care while controlling health expenditures. Our objective was to estimate the impact of broader diffusion of VBID on US health care benefits and costs. We used a published computer simulation of costs and life expectancy gains from US health care to estimate the impact of broader diffusion of VBID. Two scenarios were analyzed: (1) applying VBID solely to pharmacy benefits and (2) applying VBID to both pharmacy benefits and other health care services (e.g., devices). We assumed that cost sharing would be eliminated for high-value services (value services ($100,000-$300,000 per life-year or unknown), and would be increased for low-value services (>$300,000 per life-year). All costs are provided in 2003 US dollars. Our simulation estimated that approximately 60% of health expenditures in the US are spent on low-value services, 20% are spent on intermediate-value services, and 20% are spent on high-value services. Correspondingly, the vast majority (80%) of health expenditures would have cost sharing that is impacted by VBID. With prevailing patterns of cost sharing, health care conferred 4.70 life-years at a per-capita annual expenditure of US$5,688. Broader diffusion of VBID to pharmaceuticals increased the benefit conferred by health care by 0.03 to 0.05 additional life-years, without increasing costs and without increasing out-of-pocket payments. Broader diffusion of VBID to other health care services could increase the benefit conferred by health care by 0.24 to 0.44 additional life-years, also without increasing costs and without increasing overall out-of-pocket payments. Among those without health insurance, using cost saving from VBID to subsidize insurance coverage would increase the benefit conferred by health care by 1.21 life-years, a 31% increase

  11. Ecological strategies shapes the insurance potential of biodiversity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel eMatias

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Biodiversity is thought to provide insurance for ecosystem functioning under heterogeneous environments, however, such insurance potential is under serious threat following unprecedented loss of biodiversity. One of the key mechanism underlying ecological insurance is that niche differentiation allows asynchronous responses to fluctuating environments; although, the role of different ecological strategies (e.g. specialists vs generalists has yet to be formally evaluated. We combine here a simple model and experimental study to illustrate how different specialization-performance strategies shape the biodiversity-insurance relationship. We assembled microcosm of generalists and specialist bacteria over a gradient of salinity and found that, bacterial communities made up of generalists were more productive and more stable over time under environmental fluctuations. We argue that beyond species richness itself, it is essential to incorporate the distribution of ecological strategies across relevant environmental gradients as predictors of the insurance potential of biodiversity in natural ecosystems.

  12. Hierarchical Markov Model in Life Insurance and Social Benefit Schemes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiwook Jang

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available We explored the effect of the jump-diffusion process on a social benefit scheme consisting of life insurance, unemployment/disability benefits, and retirement benefits. To do so, we used a four-state Markov chain with multiple decrements. Assuming independent state-wise intensities taking the form of a jump-diffusion process and deterministic interest rates, we evaluated the prospective reserves for this scheme in which the individual is employed at inception. We then numerically demonstrated the state of the reserves for the scheme under jump-diffusion and non-jump-diffusion settings. By decomposing the reserve equation into five components, our numerical illustration indicated that an extension of the retirement age has a spillover effect that would increase government expenses for other social insurance programs. We also conducted sensitivity analyses and examined the total-reserves components by changing the relevant parameters of the transition intensities, which are the average jump-size parameter, average jump frequency, and diffusion parameters of the chosen states, with figures provided. Our computation revealed that the total reserve is most sensitive to changes in average jump frequency.

  13. NMR relaxometric probing of ionic liquid dynamics and diffusion under mesoscopic confinement within bacterial cellulose ionogels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Chip J.; Gehrke, Sascha; Hollóczki, Oldamur; Wagle, Durgesh V.; Heitz, Mark P.; Baker, Gary A.

    2018-05-01

    Bacterial cellulose ionogels (BCIGs) represent a new class of material comprising a significant content of entrapped ionic liquid (IL) within a porous network formed from crystalline cellulose microfibrils. BCIGs suggest unique opportunities in separations, optically active materials, solid electrolytes, and drug delivery due to the fact that they can contain as much as 99% of an IL phase by weight, coupled with an inherent flexibility, high optical transparency, and the ability to control ionogel cross-sectional shape and size. To allow for the tailoring of BCIGs for a multitude of applications, it is necessary to better understand the underlying principles of the mesoscopic confinement within these ionogels. Toward this, we present a study of the structural, relaxation, and diffusional properties of the ILs, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([emim][Tf2N]) and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([bmpy][Tf2N]), using 1H and 19F NMR T1 relaxation times, rotational correlation times, and diffusion ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) diffusion coefficients, accompanied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We observed that the cation methyl groups in both ILs were primary points of interaction with the cellulose chains and, while the pore size in cellulose is rather large, [emim]+ diffusion was slowed by ˜2-fold, whereas [Tf2N]- diffusion was unencumbered by incorporation in the ionogel. While MD simulations of [bmpy][Tf2N] confinement at the interface showed a diffusion coefficient decrease roughly 3-fold compared to the bulk liquid, DOSY measurements did not reveal any significant changes in diffusion. This suggests that the [bmpy][Tf2N] alkyl chains dominate diffusion through formation of apolar domains. This is in contrast to [emim][Tf2N] where delocalized charge appears to preclude apolar domain formation, allowing interfacial effects to be manifested at a longer range in [emim][Tf2N].

  14. Diffusion of new medication across different income groups under a universal health insurance program: an example involving newly enlisted nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for elderly osteoarthritis patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Pen-Jen; Chou, Yiing-Jenq; Lee, Cheng-Hua; Pu, Christy

    2010-10-01

    The aim of this research was to determine whether socioeconomic status, as measured by income level, impacts on the diffusion to patients of newly reimbursed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) under the National Health Insurance program in Taiwan. We used income tax records to identify the income levels of 324 male and 551 female randomly sampled osteoarthritis patients aged over 60 years in 2000. The study period was 2 years (t (1) = April 2001-March 2002 and t (2) = April 2002-March 2003). Generalized estimating equation models were used to analyze the impact of income level on being prescribed one of the newly reimbursed NSAIDs. The impact of income level on being treated with the new drug was positive and significant for females (OR = 2.11, p < 0.01) but not for males. The interaction term between income groups and the time trend was insignificant. Other factors associated with being treated with the new drug include age, habit of health-care utilization, and residential characteristics. Diffusion of new drugs still depends on income level despite the presence of a universal national health insurance system in Taiwan.

  15. RISK CORRIDORS AND REINSURANCE IN HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETPLACES: Insurance for Insurers

    OpenAIRE

    LAYTON, TIMOTHY J.; MCGUIRE, THOMAS G.; SINAIKO, ANNA D.

    2016-01-01

    In order to encourage entry and lower prices, most regulated markets for health insurance include policies that seek to reduce the uncertainty faced by insurers. In addition to risk adjustment of premiums paid to plans, the Health Insurance Marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act implement reinsurance and risk corridors. Reinsurance limits insurer costs associated with specific individuals, while risk corridors protect against aggregate losses. Both tighten the insurer's distribut...

  16. Crop insurance: Risks and models of insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Čolović Vladimir

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The issue of crop protection is very important because of a variety of risks that could cause difficult consequences. One type of risk protection is insurance. The author in the paper states various models of insurance in some EU countries and the systems of subsidizing of insurance premiums by state. The author also gives a picture of crop insurance in the U.S., noting that in this country pays great attention to this matter. As for crop insurance in Serbia, it is not at a high level. The main problem with crop insurance is not only the risks but also the way of protection through insurance. The basic question that arises not only in the EU is the question is who will insure and protect crops. There are three possibilities: insurance companies under state control, insurance companies that are public-private partnerships or private insurance companies on a purely commercial basis.

  17. Insurance against climate change and flood risk: Insurability and decision processes of insurers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Hung-Chih; Hung, Jia-Yi

    2016-04-01

    1. Background Major portions of the Asia-Pacific region is facing escalating exposure and vulnerability to climate change and flood-related extremes. This highlights an arduous challenge for public agencies to improve existing risk management strategies. Conventionally, governmental funding was majorly responsible and accountable for disaster loss compensation in the developing countries in Asia, such as Taiwan. This is often criticized as an ineffective and inefficient measure of dealing with flood risk. Flood insurance is one option within the toolkit of risk-sharing arrangement and adaptation strategy to flood risk. However, there are numerous potential barriers for insurance companies to cover flood damage, which would cause the flood risk is regarded as uninsurable. This study thus aims to examine attitudes within the insurers about the viability of flood insurance, the decision-making processes of pricing flood insurance and their determinants, as well as to examine potential solutions to encourage flood insurance. 2. Methods and data Using expected-utility theory, an insurance agent-based decision-making model was developed to examine the insurers' attitudes towards the insurability of flood risk, and to scrutinize the factors that influence their decisions on flood insurance premium-setting. This model particularly focuses on how insurers price insurance when they face either uncertainty or ambiguity about the probability and loss of a particular flood event occurring. This study considers the factors that are expected to affect insures' decisions on underwriting and pricing insurance are their risk perception, attitudes towards flood insurance, governmental measures (e.g., land-use planning, building codes, risk communication), expected probabilities and losses of devastating flooding events, as well as insurance companies' attributes. To elicit insurers' utilities about premium-setting for insurance coverage, the 'certainty equivalent,' 'probability

  18. Chinese nuclear insurance and Chinese nuclear insurance pool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gong Zhiqi

    2000-01-01

    Chinese Nuclear Insurance Started with Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station, PICC issued the insurance policy. Nuclear insurance cooperation between Chinese and international pool's organizations was set up in 1989. In 1996, the Chinese Nuclear Insurance Pool was prepared. The Chinese Nuclear Insurance Pool was approved by The Chinese Insurance Regulatory Committee in May of 1999. The principal aim is to centralize maximum the insurance capacity for nuclear insurance from local individual insurers and to strengthen the reinsurance relations with international insurance pools so as to provide the high quality insurance service for Chinese nuclear industry. The Member Company of Chinese Nuclear Pool and its roles are introduced in this article

  19. Optimal strategies for pricing general insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Emms, P.; Haberman, S.; Savoulli, I.

    2006-01-01

    Optimal premium pricing policies in a competitive insurance environment are investigated using approximation methods and simulation of sample paths. The market average premium is modelled as a diffusion process, with the premium as the control function and the maximization of the expected total utility of wealth, over a finite time horizon, as the objective. In order to simplify the optimisation problem, a linear utility function is considered and two particular premium strategies are adopted...

  20. Health insurance without provider influence: the limits of cost containment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, L G; Greenberg, W

    1988-01-01

    In our previous paper, we showed that market forces can play a significant role in controlling health care costs and that a considerable amount of cost containment effort was pursued by third-party insurers in Oregon in the 1930s and 1940s. Although physicians were able to thwart this cost-control effort, a 1986 Supreme Court decision, FTC v. Indiana Federation of Dentists, found that a boycott of insurers by dentists violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Further investigation of recent developments, including the recent Wickline v. California decision, indicates that the primary barriers to cost containment today are not obstructive tactics by providers or provider-controlled health insurance plans. Rather, the primary barriers are increases in the development and diffusion of new technology and society's apparent preference for paying for new tests and procedures regardless of economic efficiency.

  1. Bacterial Carriers for Glioblastoma Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nalini Mehta

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Treatment of aggressive glioblastoma brain tumors is challenging, largely due to diffusion barriers preventing efficient drug dosing to tumors. To overcome these barriers, bacterial carriers that are actively motile and programmed to migrate and localize to tumor zones were designed. These carriers can induce apoptosis via hypoxia-controlled expression of a tumor suppressor protein p53 and a pro-apoptotic drug, Azurin. In a xenograft model of human glioblastoma in rats, bacterial carrier therapy conferred a significant survival benefit with 19% overall long-term survival of >100 days in treated animals relative to a median survival of 26 days in control untreated animals. Histological and proteomic analyses were performed to elucidate the safety and efficacy of these carriers, showing an absence of systemic toxicity and a restored neural environment in treated responders. In the treated non-responders, proteomic analysis revealed competing mechanisms of pro-apoptotic and drug-resistant activity. This bacterial carrier opens a versatile avenue to overcome diffusion barriers in glioblastoma by virtue of its active motility in extracellular space and can lead to tailored therapies via tumor-specific expression of tumoricidal proteins.

  2. 24 CFR 266.602 - Mortgage insurance premium: Insured advances.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mortgage insurance premium: Insured... Contract Rights and Obligations Mortgage Insurance Premiums § 266.602 Mortgage insurance premium: Insured.... On each anniversary of the initial closing, the HFA shall pay an interim mortgage insurance premium...

  3. Potato Bacterial Wilt Management in the Central Highlands of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    management measures of potato wilt, late blight and viruses. The result ... symptom less carriers of the pathogen (Rueda,. 1990 .... diffuse light store (DLS) based on cost sharing. Bacterial wilt ..... nitrogen from the air which increases the availability of the element to the plant and ..... Bacterial wilt disease in Asia and South.

  4. Optimum amount of an insurance sum in life insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janez Balkovec

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Personal insurance represents one of the sources of personal social security as a category of personal property. How to get a proper life insurance is a frequently asked question. When insuring material objects (car, house..., the problem is usually not in the amount of the taken insurance. With life insurance (abstract goods, problems as such occur. In this paper, we wish to present a model that, according to the financial situation and the anticipated future, makes it possible to calculate the optimum insurance sum in life insurance.

  5. Insuring against Health Shocks: Health Insurance and Household Choices

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Kai

    2015-01-01

    This paper provides empirical evidence on the role of public health insurance in mitigating adverse outcomes associated with health shocks. Exploiting the rollout of a universal health insurance program in rural China, I find that total household income and consumption are fully insured against health shocks even without access to health insurance. Household labor supply is an important insurance mechanism against health shocks. Access to health insurance helps households to maintain investme...

  6. Premium Forecasting of an Insurance Company: Automobile Insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Fouladvand, M. Ebrahim; Darooneh, Amir H.

    2002-01-01

    We present an analytical study of an insurance company. We model the company's performance on a statistical basis and evaluate the predicted annual income of the company in terms of insurance parameters namely the premium, total number of the insured, average loss claims etc. We restrict ourselves to a single insurance class the so-called automobile insurance. We show the existence a crossover premium p_c below which the company is loss-making. Above p_c, we also give detailed statistical ana...

  7. Insuring against health shocks: Health insurance and household choices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Kai

    2016-03-01

    This paper provides empirical evidence on the role of public health insurance in mitigating adverse outcomes associated with health shocks. Exploiting the rollout of a universal health insurance program in rural China, I find that total household income and consumption are fully insured against health shocks even without access to health insurance. Household labor supply is an important insurance mechanism against health shocks. Access to health insurance helps households to maintain investment in children's human capital during negative health shocks, which suggests that one benefit of health insurance could arise from reducing the use of costly smoothing mechanisms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Defining the key-parameters of insurance product in Islamic insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Galim Zaribzyanovich Vakhitov

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective to define the range of actuarial calculations in Islamic insurance to study the main differences of the traditional and Islamic insurance to define what changes in calculations entail the above differences. Methods mathematical modeling probabilistic analysis of insurance risks adaptation of methods of actuarial mathematics to the principles of Islamic insurance. Results the mathematical form of the takafulfund models is presented the distribution is analyzed of a random variable of the resulting insurance fund or the insurance company balance in a particular fixed insurance portfolio. Scientific novelty calculation are presented of the optimal tariff rate in takaful. Islamic insurance is an innovative area of insurance industry. Actuarial calculations that meet the Sharia rules are still being developed. The authors set the new tasks of actuarial calculations including the specified changes in the calculation of the optimal tariff rate imposed by the Islamic insurance principles. Practical value the results obtained can be used in the actuarial calculations of the Islamic insurance companies. nbsp

  9. Exploring health insurance services in Sudan from the perspectives of insurers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salim, Anas Mustafa Ahmed; Hamed, Fatima Hashim Mahmoud

    2018-01-01

    It has been 20 years since the introduction of health insurance in Sudan. This study was the first one that explored health insurance services in Sudan from the perspectives of the insurers. This was a qualitative, exploratory, interview study. The sampling frame was the list of Social Health Insurance and Private Health Insurance institutions in Sudan. Participants were selected from the four Social Health Insurance institutions and from five Private Health Insurance companies. The study was conducted in January and February 2017. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with a convenient sample of key executives from the different health insurers. Ideas and themes were identified and analysed using thematic analysis. The result showed that universal coverage was not achieved despite long time presence of Social Health Insurance and Private Health Insurance in Sudan. All participants described their services as comprehensive. All participants have good perception of the quality of the services they provide, although none of them investigated customer satisfaction. The main challenges facing Social Health Insurance are achieving universal coverage, ensuring sustainability and recruitment of the informal sector and self-employed population. Consumers' affordability of the premiums is the main obstacle for Private Health Insurance, while rising healthcare cost due to economic inflation is a challenge facing both Social Health Insurance and Private Health Insurance. In spite of the presence of Social Health Insurance and Private Health Insurance in Sudan, the country is still far from achieving universal coverage. Moreover, the sustainability of health insurance is questionable. The main reasons include low governmental financial resources and lack of affordability by beneficiaries especially for Private Health Insurance. This necessitates finding solutions to improve them or trying other types of health insurance. The quality of services provided by Social

  10. 24 CFR 266.600 - Mortgage insurance premium: Insurance upon completion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mortgage insurance premium... MULTIFAMILY PROJECT LOANS Contract Rights and Obligations Mortgage Insurance Premiums § 266.600 Mortgage insurance premium: Insurance upon completion. (a) Initial premium. For projects insured upon completion, on...

  11. Optimal Investment and Reinsurance for Insurers with Uncertain Time-Horizon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ailing Gu

    2014-01-01

    state hits the barrier. The objective of the insurer is to maximize the expected discounted exponential utility of her terminal wealth. By dynamic programming approach and Feynman-Kac representation theorem, we derive the expressions for optimal value functions and optimal investment-reinsurance strategies in two special cases. Furthermore, an example is considered under the diffusion-approximation model, which shows some interesting results.

  12. 76 FR 77442 - Mutual Insurance Holding Company Treated as Insurance Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-13

    ... insurance industry traces its roots back to England, where, in 1696, the first mutual fire insurer was... FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 12 CFR Part 380 RIN 3064-AD89 Mutual Insurance Holding Company Treated as Insurance Company AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). ACTION: Notice...

  13. Deposit Insurance Coverage, Credibility of Non-insurance, and Banking Crises

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Angkinand, Apanard; Wihlborg, Clas

    2005-01-01

    level require analyses of institutional factors affecting the credibility of non-insurance. In particular, the implementation of effective distress resolution procedures for banks would allow governments to reduce explicit deposit insurance coverage and, thereby, to strengthen market discipline......The ambiguity in existing empirical work with respect to effects of deposit insurance schemes on banks' risk-taking can be resolved if it is recognized that absence of deposit insurance is rarely credible and that the credibility of non-insurance can be enhanced by explicit deposit insurance...... schemes. We show that under reasonable conditions for effects on risk-taking of creditor protection in banking, and for effects on credibility of non-insurance of explicit coverage of deposit insurance schemes, there exists a partial level of coverage that maximizes market discipline and minimizes moral...

  14. Insurance premiums and insurance coverage of near-poor children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadley, Jack; Reschovsky, James D; Cunningham, Peter; Kenney, Genevieve; Dubay, Lisa

    States increasingly are using premiums for near-poor children in their public insurance programs (Medicaid/SCHIP) to limit private insurance crowd-out and constrain program costs. Using national data from four rounds of the Community Tracking Study Household Surveys spanning the seven years from 1996 to 2003, this study estimates a multinomial logistic regression model examining how public and private insurance premiums affect insurance coverage outcomes (Medicaid/SCHIP coverage, private coverage, and no coverage). Higher public premiums are significantly associated with a lower probability of public coverage and higher probabilities of private coverage and uninsurance; higher private premiums are significantly related to a lower probability of private coverage and higher probabilities of public coverage and uninsurance. The results imply that uninsurance rates will rise if both public and private premiums increase, and suggest that states that impose or increase public insurance premiums for near-poor children will succeed in discouraging crowd-out of private insurance, but at the expense of higher rates of uninsurance. Sustained increases in private insurance premiums will continue to create enrollment pressures on state insurance programs for children.

  15. Nuclear insurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    The yearbook contains among others the figures of the nuclear insurance line. According to these these the DKVG (German nuclear power plant insurance association) has 102 member insurance companies all registered in the Federal Republic of Germany. By using reinsurance capacities of the other pools at present property insurance amounts to 1.5 billion DM and liability insurance to 200 million DM. In 1991 the damage charges on account of DKV amounted to 3.1 (1990 : 4.3) million DM. From these 0.6 million DM are apportioned to payments and 2.5 million DM to reserves. One large damage would cost a maximum gross sum of 2.2 billion DM property and liability insurance; on account of DKVG 750 million DM. (orig./HSCH) [de

  16. Hindered bacterial mobility in porous media flow enhances dispersion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehkharghani, Amin; Waisbord, Nicolas; Dunkel, Jörn; Guasto, Jeffrey

    2017-11-01

    Swimming bacteria live in porous environments characterized by dynamic fluid flows, where they play a crucial role in processes ranging from the bioremediation to the spread of infections. We study bacterial transport in a quasi-two-dimensional porous microfluidic device, which is complemented by Langevin simulations. The cell trajectories reveal filamentous patterns of high cell concentration, which result from the accumulation of bacteria in the high-shear regions of the flow and their subsequent advection. Moreover, the effective diffusion coefficient of the motile bacteria is severely hindered in the transverse direction to the flow due to decorrelation of the cells' persistent random walk by shear-induced rotation. The hindered lateral diffusion has the surprising consequence of strongly enhancing the longitudinal bacterial transport through a dispersion effect. These results demonstrate the significant role of the flow and geometry in bacterial transport through porous media with potential implications for understanding ecosystem dynamics and engineering bioreactors. NSF CBET-1511340, NSF CAREER-1554095.

  17. Pricing Participating Products under a Generalized Jump-Diffusion Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tak Kuen Siu

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We propose a model for valuing participating life insurance products under a generalized jump-diffusion model with a Markov-switching compensator. It also nests a number of important and popular models in finance, including the classes of jump-diffusion models and Markovian regime-switching models. The Esscher transform is employed to determine an equivalent martingale measure. Simulation experiments are conducted to illustrate the practical implementation of the model and to highlight some features that can be obtained from our model.

  18. The impact of natural transformation on adaptation in spatially structured bacterial populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moradigaravand, Danesh; Engelstädter, Jan

    2014-06-20

    Recent studies have demonstrated that natural transformation and the formation of highly structured populations in bacteria are interconnected. In spite of growing evidence about this connection, little is known about the dynamics of natural transformation in spatially structured bacterial populations. In this work, we model the interdependency between the dynamics of the bacterial gene pool and those of environmental DNA in space to dissect the effect of transformation on adaptation. Our model reveals that even with only a single locus under consideration, transformation with a free DNA fragment pool results in complex adaptation dynamics that do not emerge in previous models focusing only on the gene shuffling effect of transformation at multiple loci. We demonstrate how spatial restriction on population growth and DNA diffusion in the environment affect the impact of transformation on adaptation. We found that in structured bacterial populations intermediate DNA diffusion rates predominantly cause transformation to impede adaptation by spreading deleterious alleles in the population. Overall, our model highlights distinctive evolutionary consequences of bacterial transformation in spatially restricted compared to planktonic bacterial populations.

  19. Insurance crisis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, P.L.

    1996-01-01

    The article discusses the effects of financing and technology advances on the availability of insurance for independent power producers operating gas turbines. Combined cycle units which require new materials and processes make it difficult to assess risk. Insurers are denying coverage, or raising prices and deductibles. Many lenders, however, are requiring insurance prior to financing. Some solutions proposed include information sharing by industry participants and insurers and increased risk acceptance by plant owners/operators

  20. Mitigation Index Insurance for Developing Countries: Insure the Loss or Insure the Signal?

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Yiting; Miranda, Mario J.

    2015-01-01

    Conventional agricultural index insurance indemnifies based on the observed value of a specified variable, such as rainfall, that is correlated with agricultural production losses. Typically, indemnities are paid to the policyholder after the losses have been experienced. This paper explores alternate timing for index insurance payouts. In particular, we explore the potential benefits of what we call “mitigation index insurance” in which the payouts of the insurance contract arrive before los...

  1. Disability Insurance and Health Insurance Reform: Evidence from Massachusetts

    OpenAIRE

    Nicole Maestas; Kathleen J. Mullen; Alexander Strand

    2014-01-01

    As health insurance becomes available outside of the employment relationship as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the cost of applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)–potentially going without health insurance coverage during a waiting period totaling 29 months from disability onset–will decline for many people with employer-sponsored health insurance. At the same time, the value of SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) participation will decline for individuals...

  2. Probabilistic Insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wakker, P.P.; Thaler, R.H.; Tversky, A.

    1997-01-01

    Probabilistic insurance is an insurance policy involving a small probability that the consumer will not be reimbursed. Survey data suggest that people dislike probabilistic insurance and demand more than a 20% reduction in premium to compensate for a 1% default risk. These observations cannot be

  3. Probabilistic Insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    P.P. Wakker (Peter); R.H. Thaler (Richard); A. Tversky (Amos)

    1997-01-01

    textabstractProbabilistic insurance is an insurance policy involving a small probability that the consumer will not be reimbursed. Survey data suggest that people dislike probabilistic insurance and demand more than a 20% reduction in the premium to compensate for a 1% default risk. While these

  4. Health Insurance Basics

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Health Insurance Basics KidsHealth / For Teens / Health Insurance Basics What's ... thought advanced calculus was confusing. What Exactly Is Health Insurance? Health insurance is a plan that people buy ...

  5. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Insured Banks

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Homeland Security — The Summary of Deposits (SOD) is the annual survey of branch office deposits for all FDIC-insured institutions including insured U.S. branches of foreign banks. Data...

  6. 75 FR 15603 - Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Florida Avocado Crop Insurance Provisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-30

    ... to: (1) Theft; or (2) Inability to market the avocados for any reason other than actual physical... Crop Insurance Regulations; Florida Avocado Crop Insurance Provisions AGENCY: Federal Crop Insurance... Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Florida Avocado Crop Insurance Provisions to convert the Florida...

  7. 76 FR 71276 - Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Pecan Revenue Crop Insurance Provisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-17

    ...-0008] RIN 0563-AC35 Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Pecan Revenue Crop Insurance Provisions AGENCY... Corporation (FCIC) proposes to amend the Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Pecan Revenue Crop Insurance... Regulations (7 CFR part 457) by revising Sec. 457.167 Pecan Revenue Crop Insurance Provisions, to be effective...

  8. Do self-insurance and disability insurance prevent consumption loss on disability?

    OpenAIRE

    Steffan G. Ball; Hamish W. Low

    2009-01-01

    In this paper we show the extent to which public insurance and self-insurance mitigate the cost of health shocks that limit the ability to work. We use consumption data from the UK to estimate the insurance provided by the government disability programme and account for the effectiveness of alternative self-insurance mechanisms. Individuals with a work-limiting health condition, but in receipt of disability insurance, have 7 percent lower consumption than those without such a condition. Self-...

  9. Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance Strategies in Contagious Markets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buccioli, Alice; Kokholm, Thomas

    2018-01-01

    charging and for risk management. The literature on CPPI modeling typically assumes diffusive or Lévy-driven dynamics for the risky asset underlying the strategy. In either case the self-contagious nature of asset prices is not taken into account. In order to account for contagion while preserving......Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI) strategies are popular as they allow to gear up the upside potential of a stock index while limiting its downside risk. From the issuer's perspective it is important to adequately assess the risks associated with the CPPI, both for correct "gap'' fee...

  10. INSURANCE MARKET. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF INSURANCES IN ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MARINEL NEDELUŢ

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Insurance is a contract made by a company or society, or by the state, to provide a guarantee for loss, damage, illness, death etc in return for regular payments. In other words it is a means by which one pays a relatively small known cost for protection against an uncertain and much larger cost. Still, this contract (insurance policy makes it possible for the insured to cover only losses that are measurable in terms of money and caused strictly by hazardous events, independent from own doing. If no such events should happen, the benefits won’t exist in a tangible, material form, but will take the shape of security against ruin. Since the insurance industry has developed more during the last decade due to the powerful players that have entered the market, the services provided by the insurance companies, and not only their products have evolved a lot in order to meet the requirements of the consumers, and to make them familiar with this type of investments. Therefore all the means of advertising became essential in this process of implementation and familiarization with this area of activity: mass-media advertising, insurance brokerage companies, the internet are all parts of this process.

  11. Life Insurance Contribution, Insurance Development and Economic Growth in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Ying

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Under L-type economy, remodelling the growth power in the medium and long term is essential. The insurance industry during the 13th Five-year Plan period has been given a heavy expectation on promoting economic quality and upgrading economic efficiency, so it will try to accelerate its innovation and development process which serves national needs, market demand and people's requirements. Referring to the previous researches of Solow and Zhang and measuring Capital Stock and Total Factor Productivity independently, the paper analyses the inherent correlation between insurance (including life insurance and non-life insurance and economic growth, reveals the contribution law of the insurance development in economic growth in the short and long term from both economic scale and quality respectively. It also shows enlightenments on policy decision for insurance industry, thus helps economic stability under the downturn periods.

  12. INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreea Stoican

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The actual Civil code regulates for the first time in the Romanian legislation the intermediation contract, until its entering into force existing multiple situations that lent themselves to this legal operation, but did not benefit of such particular legal rules. Yet, the case law has shown that the situations that arise in the activity of the legal or natural persons are much more complex, this leading, in time, to the reglementation of such particular rules. Such a case is that found in the matter of insurance contracts, the position of the insurance intermediaries being regulated especially by Law no. 32/2000, according to which they represent the natural or legal persons authorized in the conditions of the above mentioned legal document, that perform intermediation activities in the insurance field, in exchange of a remuneration, as well as the intermediaries from the EU member states that perform such an activity on the Romanian territory, in accordance with the freedom in performing services. Therefore, the present paper aims to analyze the conclusion of such insurance contracts and to underline the particular position of the insurance brokers, having the following structure: 1 Introduction; 2 The reglementation of the intermediation contract/brokerage agreement in the Romanian Law; 3 The importance of the intermediaries in the insurance contracts; 4 The conclusion of the insurance contracts; 5 Conclusions.

  13. MARKETING OF INSURANCE PRODUCTS BY THE NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, RAJAPALAYAM

    OpenAIRE

    Dr. H. Christy Cynthia; Dr. T. Jebasheela; V. Maheswari

    2017-01-01

    Insurance is a way of reducing uncertainty of occurrence of an event. Insurance is an investment. Its basic purpose is to derive plans to counteract the financial consequences of unfavorable events. Insurance is a social device for eliminating or reducing the cost to society to certain types of risks. Insurance is essentially a co-operative endeavor. It is the function of the insurance to protect the few against the heavy financial impact of anticipated misfortunes by spreading losses among m...

  14. [Occupational health services as the insurance product and insurance economic instruments].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rydlewska-Liszkowska, Izabela

    2014-01-01

    One of the most controversial issues in restructuring the Polish health insurance system is the implementation of private voluntary insurance and creation within it a new insurance product known as occupational health services (OHS). In this article some opportunities and dilemmas likely to be faced by providers and employers/employees, when contracting with insurance institutions, are considered as a contribution to the discussion on private insurance in Poland. The basic question is how private insurance institutions could influence the promotion of different preventive activities at the company level by motivating both OHS providers and employers. The descriptive qualitative method has been applied in the analysis of legal acts, scientific publications selected according to keywords (Pubmed), documents and expert evaluations and research project results. Taking into account the experiences of European countries, described in publications, international experts' opinions and results of research projects the solution proposed in Poland could be possible under the following several prerequisites: inclusion of a full scope of occupational health services into the insurance product, constant supervision of occupational medicine professionals, monitoring of the health care quality and the relations between private insurers and OHS provider and implementation of the economic incentives scheme to ensure an adequate position of OHS providers on the market. The proposed reconstruction of the health insurance system, comprising undoubtedly positive elements, may entail some threats in the area of health, organization and economy. Private voluntary health insurance implementation requires precisely defined solutions concerning the scope of insurance product, motivation scheme and information system.

  15. BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT IN INSURANCE CASE OF JADRANSKO INSURANCE COMPANY

    OpenAIRE

    Sanja Coric; Danijel Bara

    2014-01-01

    Selling insurance products in conditions of today’s modern technological solutions is faced with numerous challenges. Business processes in insurance as well as the results of these business processes are the real interface to policyholders. Modeling and analysis of business process in insurance ensure organizations to focus on the customer and increase the efficiency and quality of work. Managing critical business processes in every single organization, likewise in insurance is a key factor ...

  16. Insurance of nuclear risk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lacroix, M.

    1976-01-01

    Insurance for large nuclear installations covers mainly four types of risk: third party liability which in accordance with the nuclear conventions, is borne by a nuclear operator following an incident occurring in his installation or during transport of nuclear substances; material damage to the installation itself, which precisely is not covered by third party liability insurance; machinery breakdown, i.e. accidental damage or interruption of operation. Only the first category must be insured. In view of the magnitude of the risk, nuclear insurance resorts to co-insurance and reinsurance techniques which results in a special organisation of the nuclear insurance market, based on national nuclear insurance pools and on the Standing Committee on Atomic Risk of the European Insurance Committee. Conferences of the chairmen of nuclear insurance pools are convened regularly at a worldwide level. (NEA) [fr

  17. THE MODEL OF INTERACTION BETWEEN INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES AND INSURANCE COMPANIES IN THE ASSURANCE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INSURANCE MARKET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataliia Kudriavska

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is the investigation of the model of interaction between insurance intermediaries and insurance companies in the assurance of sustainable development of the insurance market. The methodology is based on the new studies and books. It is underlined the importance of potency and effectiveness of this model, its influence on the insurance market stability. It is analysed the European experience and specific of Ukrainian insurance market. The main ways for improving its model and ways of its practical realization are characterized. Results. The problems that exist in the broker market in general are connected with an ineffective state policy. In particular, we can say about the absence of many laws, acts, resolutions, which explain what a broker have to do in case of different problems with insurance companies, another brokers and clients. At the same time, the problem of distrust to national brokers exists. It provokes a decline of the demand for their services and so on. However, it is possible to solve these problems. Practical implications. For this, it is necessary to do some acts. The first one is to implement resolutions that regulate relationships between insurance brokers and insurance companies, clearly regulate the model of its interaction. This model affects the stability of the insurance market in general. The second is to find methods of solving problems of the increase in insurance culture of the population (for example, by the way of advertisement. The third one is to solve problems connected with the appearance of foreign brokers in the insurance market of Ukraine. Actually, the Ukrainian market of insurance brokers is not developed enough. That is why it needs big changes and reforms. Value/originality. Among alternatives of the strategic development of insurance, the method of quick liberalization and gradual development is distinguished. According to the liberal way, it is possible to transfer to the

  18. 41 CFR 60-741.25 - Health insurance, life insurance and other benefit plans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Health insurance, life insurance and other benefit plans. 60-741.25 Section 60-741.25 Public Contracts and Property Management... Health insurance, life insurance and other benefit plans. (a) An insurer, hospital, or medical service...

  19. 77 FR 25349 - Mutual Insurance Holding Company Treated as Insurance Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-30

    ..., the first mutual fire insurer was established. The first American mutual insurance company, the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, was founded in 1752.\\3\\ \\3\\ The...

  20. China's Insurance Regulatory Reform, Corporate Governance Behavior and Insurers' Governance Effectiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Huicong; Zhang, Hongliang; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Qiu, Aichao

    2017-10-17

    External regulation is an important mechanism to improve corporate behavior in emerging markets. China's insurance governance regulation, which began to supervise and guide insurance corporate governance behavior in 2006, has experienced a complex process of reform. This study tested our hypotheses with a sample of 85 firms during 2010-2011, which was obtained by providing a questionnaire to all of China's shareholding insurance companies. The empirical study results generally show that China's insurance governance effectiveness has significantly improved through strict regulation. Insurance corporate governance can improve business acumen and risk-control ability, but no significant evidence was found to prove its influence on profitability, as a result of focusing less attention on governance than on management. State ownership is associated with higher corporate governance effectiveness than non-state ownership. Listed companies tend to outperform non-listed firms, and life insurance corporate governance is more effective than that of property insurers. This study not only contributes to the comprehensive understanding of corporate governance effectiveness but also to the literature by highlighting the effect of corporate governance regulation in China's insurance industry and other emerging economies of the financial sector.

  1. Insurance Salespeople's Attitudes towards Collusion: The Case of Taiwan’s Car Insurance Industry

    OpenAIRE

    Lu-Ming Tseng; Wen-Pin Su

    2014-01-01

    Insurance researchers believe that the increase in insurance fraud may be associated with the unethical decisions made by some insurance salespeople. However, to date, research that has empirically investigated the link between insurance salespeople and collusion is scant. Using the car insurance industry in Taiwan as an example, this paper explores the impact of the opportunity to obtain the fraudulent claim and that of the size of actual loss on car insurance salespeople's attitudes towards...

  2. 78 FR 56583 - Deposit Insurance Regulations; Definition of Insured Deposit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-13

    ... as a potential global deposit insurer, preserve confidence in the FDIC deposit insurance system, and... the United States.\\2\\ The FDIC generally pays out deposit insurance on the next business day after a... since 2001 and total approximately $1 trillion today. In many cases, these branches do not engage in...

  3. Pricing behaviour of nonprofit insurers in a weakly competitive social health insurance market.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douven, Rudy C H M; Schut, Frederik T

    2011-03-01

    In this paper we examine the pricing behaviour of nonprofit health insurers in the Dutch social health insurance market. Since for-profit insurers were not allowed in this market, potential spillover effects from the presence of for-profit insurers on the behaviour of nonprofit insurers were absent. Using a panel data set for all health insurers operating in the Dutch social health insurance market over the period 1996-2004, we estimate a premium model to determine which factors explain the price setting behaviour of nonprofit health insurers. We find that financial stability rather than profit maximisation offers the best explanation for health plan pricing behaviour. In the presence of weak price competition, health insurers did not set premiums to maximize profits. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that regulations on financial reserves are needed to restrict premiums. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Probabilistic insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Wakker, P.P.; Thaler, R.H.; Tversky, A.

    1997-01-01

    textabstractProbabilistic insurance is an insurance policy involving a small probability that the consumer will not be reimbursed. Survey data suggest that people dislike probabilistic insurance and demand more than a 20% reduction in the premium to compensate for a 1% default risk. While these preferences are intuitively appealing they are difficult to reconcile with expected utility theory. Under highly plausible assumptions about the utility function, willingness to pay for probabilistic i...

  5. New diffusion-sythetic acceleration methods for the SN equations with corner balance spatial differencing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wareing, T.A.

    1993-01-01

    New methods are presented for diffusion-synthetic accelerating the S N equations in slab and x-y geometries with the corner balance spatial differencing scheme. With the standard diffusion-synthetic acceleration method, the discretized diffusion problem is derived from the discretized S N problem to insure stability through consistent differencing. The major difference between our new methods and standard diffusion-synthetic acceleration is that the discretized diffusion problem is derived from a discretization of the P 1 equations, independently of the discretized S N problem. We present theoretical and numerical results to show that these new methods are unconditionally efficient in slab and x-y geometries with rectangular spatial meshes and isotropic scattering. (orig.)

  6. Women's Health Insurance Coverage

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Women's Health Policy Women’s Health Insurance Coverage Women’s Health Insurance Coverage Published: Oct 31, 2017 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn ... that many women continue to face. Sources of Health Insurance Coverage Employer-Sponsored Insurance: Approximately 57.9 million ...

  7. Dividend Maximization when Cash Reserves Follow a Jump-diffusion Process

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI LI-LI; FENG JIN-GHAI; SONG LI-XIN

    2009-01-01

    This paper deals with the dividend optimization problem for an insur-ance company, whose surplus follows a jump-diffusion process. The objective of the company is to maximize the expected total discounted dividends paid out until the time of ruin. Under concavity assumption on the optimal value function, the paper states some general properties and, in particular, smoothness results on the optimal value function, whose analysis mainly relies on viscosity solutions of the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equations. Based on these properties, the explicit expression of the optimal value function is obtained. And some numerical calculations are presented as the application of the results.

  8. CURRENT CHANGES ON INSURANCE MARKET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madalina Giorgiana MANGRA

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The offer of insurance products is about the requirements and needs of the consumer who must always have information regarding: the type of insurance risk covered and the excluded risks, the sum insured, the payment of premiums and their duration. The accurate information of customer requires, from the commencement of contract and throughout its duration, that he or she is aware of the obligations throughout the contractual period. Most of the Romanians are turning their attention to one of the insurance companies found in the top 10 in 2016, supervised by F.S.A. (Financial Supervision Authority, preferring to have a policy of mandatory household and goods insurance, auto liability or life insurance, but are also interested in travel health insurance when going abroad, private health insurance or private pension insurance. Romanians' reluctance regarding the conclusion of an insurance comes from their distrust in insurance companies (see the situations of companies like Astra Insurance, Carpatica Insurance etc., their personal financial situation and the fear that they will not receive protection if the risk is covered but the insured sum is insufficient

  9. SERVICE QUALITY MEASUREMENT AND DEMAND FOR INSURANCE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY FROM NIGERIAN INSURANCE INDUSTRY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abass, OlufemiAdebowale

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Insurance provides financial protection to the insured, though; its acceptance by Nigerian insuring public is still low. This can sharply be traced to low awareness of insurance service. More importantly, quality of service to the few who embraced it had been low. Therefore, insuring public perceives insurance service as defective because customers’ expectations are not met. The objective of this research is to find out whether application of service quality measurement will drive demand for insurance products. Hypothesis was tested to find out whether SERVQUAL measurement is not significantly related to demand for insurance products in Nigeria. The study adopts descriptive research design; hypothesis was tested using regression analysis. The study reveals that there is a significant relationship between application of SERVQUAL measurement and demand for insurance. It is recommended that insurance companies operating in Nigeria should adopt SERVQUAL measurement which will further increase customer retention and loyalty.

  10. Effect of flow and peristaltic mixing on bacterial growth in a gut-like channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cremer, Jonas; Segota, Igor; Yang, Chih-yu; Arnoldini, Markus; Sauls, John T.; Zhang, Zhongge; Gutierrez, Edgar; Groisman, Alex; Hwa, Terence

    2016-01-01

    The ecology of microbes in the gut has been shown to play important roles in the health of the host. To better understand microbial growth and population dynamics in the proximal colon, the primary region of bacterial growth in the gut, we built and applied a fluidic channel that we call the “minigut.” This is a channel with an array of membrane valves along its length, which allows mimicking active contractions of the colonic wall. Repeated contraction is shown to be crucial in maintaining a steady-state bacterial population in the device despite strong flow along the channel that would otherwise cause bacterial washout. Depending on the flow rate and the frequency of contractions, the bacterial density profile exhibits varying spatial dependencies. For a synthetic cross-feeding community, the species abundance ratio is also strongly affected by mixing and flow along the length of the device. Complex mixing dynamics due to contractions is described well by an effective diffusion term. Bacterial dynamics is captured by a simple reaction–diffusion model without adjustable parameters. Our results suggest that flow and mixing play a major role in shaping the microbiota of the colon. PMID:27681630

  11. 78 FR 33690 - Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Pecan Crop Insurance Provisions; Correction

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-05

    ...-0008] RIN 0563-AC35 Common Crop Insurance Regulations; Pecan Crop Insurance Provisions; Correction... FR 13454-13460). The regulation pertains to the insurance of Pecans. DATES: Effective Date: June 5...: [[Page 33691

  12. Health Insurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Health insurance helps protect you from high medical care costs. It is a contract between you and your ... Many people in the United States get a health insurance policy through their employers. In most cases, the ...

  13. Health insurance basic actuarial models

    CERN Document Server

    Pitacco, Ermanno

    2014-01-01

    Health Insurance aims at filling a gap in actuarial literature, attempting to solve the frequent misunderstanding in regards to both the purpose and the contents of health insurance products (and ‘protection products’, more generally) on the one hand, and the relevant actuarial structures on the other. In order to cover the basic principles regarding health insurance techniques, the first few chapters in this book are mainly devoted to the need for health insurance and a description of insurance products in this area (sickness insurance, accident insurance, critical illness covers, income protection, long-term care insurance, health-related benefits as riders to life insurance policies). An introduction to general actuarial and risk-management issues follows. Basic actuarial models are presented for sickness insurance and income protection (i.e. disability annuities). Several numerical examples help the reader understand the main features of pricing and reserving in the health insurance area. A short int...

  14. Insuring Care: Paperwork, Insurance Rules, and Clinical Labor at a U.S. Transgender Clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Eijk, Marieke

    2017-12-01

    What is a clinician to do when people needing medical care do not have access to consistent or sufficient health insurance coverage and cannot pay for care privately? Analyzing ethnographically how clinicians at a university-based transgender clinic in the United States responded to this challenge, I examine the U.S. health insurance system, insurance paperwork, and administrative procedures that shape transgender care delivery. To buffer the impact of the system's failure to provide sufficient health insurance coverage for transgender care, clinicians blended administrative routines with psychological therapy, counseled people's minds and finances, and leveraged the prestige of their clinic in attempts to create space for gender nonconforming embodiments in gender conservative insurance policies. My analysis demonstrates that in a market-based health insurance system with multiple payers and gender binary insurance rules, health care may be unaffordable, or remain financially challenging, even for transgender people with health insurance. Moreover, insurance carriers' "reliance" on clinicians' insurance-related labor is problematic as it exacerbates existing insurance barriers to the accessibility and affordability of transgender care and obscures the workings of a financial payment model that prioritizes economic expediency over gender nonconforming health.

  15. How do health insurer market concentration and bargaining power with hospitals affect health insurance premiums?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trish, Erin E; Herring, Bradley J

    2015-07-01

    The US health insurance industry is highly concentrated, and health insurance premiums are high and rising rapidly. Policymakers have focused on the possible link between the two, leading to ACA provisions to increase insurer competition. However, while market power may enable insurers to include higher profit margins in their premiums, it may also result in stronger bargaining leverage with hospitals to negotiate lower payment rates to partially offset these higher premiums. We empirically examine the relationship between employer-sponsored fully-insured health insurance premiums and the level of concentration in local insurer and hospital markets using the nationally-representative 2006-2011 KFF/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey. We exploit a unique feature of employer-sponsored insurance, in which self-insured employers purchase only administrative services from managed care organizations, to disentangle these different effects on insurer concentration by constructing one concentration measure representing fully-insured plans' transactions with employers and the other concentration measure representing insurers' bargaining with hospitals. As expected, we find that premiums are indeed higher for plans sold in markets with higher levels of concentration relevant to insurer transactions with employers, lower for plans in markets with higher levels of insurer concentration relevant to insurer bargaining with hospitals, and higher for plans in markets with higher levels of hospital market concentration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. 76 FR 20298 - Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers; Required To File Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-12

    ... vehicle insurers that are required to file reports on their motor vehicle theft loss experiences. An... the agency. Each insurer's report includes information about thefts and recoveries of motor vehicles... more vehicles not covered by theft insurance policies issued by insurers of motor vehicles, other than...

  17. 75 FR 34966 - Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers Required To File Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-21

    ... vehicle insurers that are required to file reports on their motor vehicle theft loss experiences. An... the agency. Each insurer's report includes information about thefts and recoveries of motor vehicles... vehicles not covered by theft insurance policies issued by insurers of motor vehicles, other than any...

  18. 41 CFR 60-300.25 - Health insurance, life insurance and other benefit plans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Health insurance, life... VETERANS, AND ARMED FORCES SERVICE MEDAL VETERANS Discrimination Prohibited § 60-300.25 Health insurance, life insurance and other benefit plans. (a) An insurer, hospital, or medical service company, health...

  19. 41 CFR 60-250.25 - Health insurance, life insurance and other benefit plans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Health insurance, life... SEPARATED VETERANS, AND OTHER PROTECTED VETERANS Discrimination Prohibited § 60-250.25 Health insurance, life insurance and other benefit plans. (a) An insurer, hospital, or medical service company, health...

  20. Public Insurance and Equality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Landes, Xavier; Néron, Pierre-Yves

    2015-01-01

    Heath (among other political theorists) considers that the principle of efficiency provides a better normative explanation and justification of public insurance than the egalitarian account. According to this view, the fact that the state is involved in the provision of specific insurance (primarily......Public insurance is commonly assimilated with redistributive tools mobilized by the welfare state in the pursuit of an egalitarian ideal. This view contains some truth, since the result of insurance, at a given moment, is the redistribution of resources from the lucky to unlucky. However, Joseph...... surrounding public insurance as a redistributive tool, advancing the idea that public insurance may be a relational egalitarian tool. It then presents a number of relational arguments in favor of the involvement of the state in the provision of specific forms of insurance, arguments that have been overlooked...

  1. Farmers Insures Success

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freifeld, Lorri

    2012-01-01

    Farmers Insurance claims the No. 2 spot on the Training Top 125 with a forward-thinking training strategy linked to its primary mission: FarmersFuture 2020. It's not surprising an insurance company would have an insurance policy for the future. But Farmers takes that strategy one step further, setting its sights on 2020 with a far-reaching plan to…

  2. 76 FR 41138 - Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers Required To File Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-13

    ... passenger motor vehicle insurers that are required to file reports on their motor vehicle theft loss... information about thefts and recoveries of motor vehicles, the rating rules used by the insurer to establish... companies with a fleet of 20 or more vehicles not covered by theft insurance policies issued by insurers of...

  3. Sum Insured Determination for Cereal, Citrus and Vineyards in the Spanish Agricultural Insurance System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lozano, C.; Tarquis, A. M.; Gómez-Barona, J. A.

    2012-04-01

    In general, insurance is a form of risk management used to hedge against a contingent loss. The conventional definition is the equitable transfer of a risk of loss from one entity to another in exchange for a premium or a guaranteed and quantifiable small loss to prevent a large and possibly devastating loss being agricultural insurance a special line of property insurance. Agriculture insurance, as actually are designed in the Spanish scenario, were established in 1978. At the macroeconomic insurance studies scale, it is necessary to know a basic element for the insurance actuarial components: sum insured. When a new risk assessment has to be evaluated in the insurance framework, it is essential to determinate venture capital in the total Spanish agriculture. In this study, three different crops (cereal, citrus and vineyards) cases are showed to determinate sum insured as they are representative of the cases found in the Spanish agriculture. Crop sum insured is calculated by the product of crop surface, unit surface production and crop price insured. In the cereal case, winter as spring cereal sowing, represents the highest Spanish crop surface, above to 6 millions of hectares (ha). Meanwhile, the four citrus species (oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruits) occupied an extension just over 275.000 ha. On the other hand, vineyard target to wine process shows almost one million of ha in Spain. A new method has been applied to estimate crop sum insured in these three cases. Under the maximum economic impact assumption, the maximum market price has been used to insurance each species. Depending on crop and reliability of the data base available, the insured area or insured production has been used in this estimation. When for a certain crop varieties or type of varieties show different insurance prices a geometric average was used as average insurance price for that particular crop. One extreme difficult case was vineyards, where differentiate prices based on

  4. [Changes of chlorine isotope composition characterize bacterial dehalogenation of dichloromethane].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziakun, A M; Firsova, Iu E; Torgonskaia, M L; Doronina, N V; Trotsenko, Iu A

    2007-01-01

    Fractionation of dichloromethane (DCM) molecules with different chlorine isotopes by aerobic methylobacteria Methylobacterium dichloromethanicum DM4 and Albibacter nethylovorans DM10; cell-free extract of strain DM4; and transconjugant Methylobacterium evtorquens Al1/pME 8220, expressing the dcmA gene for DCM dehalogenase but unable to grow on DCM, was studied. Kinetic indices of DCM isotopomers for chlorine during bacterial dehalogenation and diffusion were compared. A two-step model is proposed, which suggests diffusional DCM transport to bacterial cells.

  5. 32 CFR 220.11 - Special rules for automobile liability insurance and no-fault automobile insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... and no-fault automobile insurance. 220.11 Section 220.11 National Defense Department of Defense... insurance and no-fault automobile insurance. (a) Active duty members covered. In addition to Uniformed.... 1095 and this part. (c) Exclusion of automobile liability insurance and no-fault automobile insurance...

  6. Alternative health insurance schemes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keiding, Hans; Hansen, Bodil O.

    2002-01-01

    In this paper, we present a simple model of health insurance with asymmetric information, where we compare two alternative ways of organizing the insurance market. Either as a competitive insurance market, where some risks remain uninsured, or as a compulsory scheme, where however, the level...... competitive insurance; this situation turns out to be at least as good as either of the alternatives...

  7. 78 FR 52780 - National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-26

    ...] National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers, Availability of FY... Assistance/Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement), 85 (as of June 2013) private sector property insurers sell... Financial Assistance/ Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement) to notify private insurance companies (Companies...

  8. 77 FR 36566 - National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-19

    ...] National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers, Availability of FY... Assistance/Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement), 82 (as of April, 2012) private sector property insurers sell... Financial Assistance/ Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement) to notify private insurance companies (Companies...

  9. Insurance: Accounting, Regulation, Actuarial Science

    OpenAIRE

    Alain Tosetti; Thomas Behar; Michel Fromenteau; Stéphane Ménart

    2001-01-01

    We shall be examining the following topics: (i) basic frameworks for accounting and for statutory insurance rules; and (ii) actuarial principles of insurance; for both life and nonlife (i.e. casualty and property) insurance.Section 1 introduces insurance terminology, regarding what an operation must include in order to be an insurance operation (the legal, statistical, financial or economic aspects), and introduces the accounting and regulation frameworks and the two actuarial models of insur...

  10. Risk Management in Insurance Companies

    OpenAIRE

    Yang, Xufeng

    2006-01-01

    Insurance is the uncertain business in uncertain society. Today, insures face more complex and difficult risks. Efficient risk management mechanisms are essential for the insurers. The paper is set out initially to explore UK insurance companies risk management and risk disclosure by examining companies annual report after all the listed insurance companies are required to disclose risk information in their annual report, which seeks to reflect the recent development in UK insurance companies...

  11. Marketing in life insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Njegomir Vladimir

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Insurance industry has traditionally been oriented on sale of its products i.e. at the stage which from the aspect of marketing theory can be characterized as sales phase, phase which proceeds the marketing orientation. However, faced with numerous challenges of modern business environment such as globalization, deregulation and sophisticated information technology insurance companies must change their way of doing business. Competition is becoming fierce as insurance companies are faced with competition not only from insurance industry but also from other competitors, such as banks, that are in position to offer product substitutes for life insurance products. In this new environment information about customers and their education are becoming critical factors. Insurance companies must know their customers what influences their demand for life insurance, what is the amount of their income, what is inflation rate, their expenditures on other goods i.e. opportunity costs, etc. Those are factors that force insurance companies to concentrate more on present and potential buyers and their needs and force them to give their best to satisfy those needs in a way that will produce delighted customers.

  12. Supplementary insurance as a switching cost for basic health insurance: Empirical results from the Netherlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willemse-Duijmelinck, Daniëlle M I D; van de Ven, Wynand P M M; Mosca, Ilaria

    2017-10-01

    Nearly everyone with a supplementary insurance (SI) in the Netherlands takes out the voluntary SI and the mandatory basic insurance (BI) from the same health insurer. Previous studies show that many high-risks perceive SI as a switching cost for BI. Because consumers' current insurer provides them with a guaranteed renewability, SI is a switching cost if insurers apply selective underwriting to new applicants. Several changes in the Dutch health insurance market increased insurers' incentives to counteract adverse selection for SI. Tools to do so are not only selective underwriting, but also risk rating and product differentiation. If all insurers use the latter tools without selective underwriting, SI is not a switching cost for BI. We investigated to what extent insurers used these tools in the periods 2006-2009 and 2014-2015. Only a few insurers applied selective underwriting: in 2015, 86% of insurers used open enrolment for all their SI products, and the other 14% did use open enrolment for their most common SI products. As measured by our indicators, the proportion of insurers applying risk rating or product differentiation did not increase in the periods considered. Due to the fear of reputation loss insurers may have used 'less visible' tools to counteract adverse selection that are indirect forms of risk rating and product differentiation and do not result in switching costs. So, although many high-risks perceive SI as a switching cost, most insurers apply open enrolment for SI. By providing information to high-risks about their switching opportunities, the government could increase consumer choice and thereby insurers' incentives to invest in high-quality care for high-risks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Serbian insurance market: Select issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Obadović Mirjana M.

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Every day insurance companies face a number of risks arising from the insurance industry itself, as well as risks arising from insurance company operations. In this constant fight against risks insurance companies use different models and methods that help them better understand, have a more comprehensive view of, and develop greater tolerance towards risks, in order to reduce their exposure to these risks. The model presented in this paper has been developed for implementation in insurance risk management directly related to insurance company risk, i.e. it is a model that can reliably determine the manner and intensity with which deviations in the initial insurance risk assessment affect insurance company operations, in the form of changes in operational risks and consequently in insurance companies’ business strategies. Additionally we present the implementation of the model in the Serbian market for the period 2005-2010.

  14. The Dynamics of Market Insurance, Insurable Assets, and Wealth Accumulation

    OpenAIRE

    Koeniger, Winfried

    2002-01-01

    We analyze dynamic interactions between market insurance, the stock of insurable assets and liquid wealth accumulation in a model with non-durable and durable consumption. The stock of the durable is exposed to risk against which households can insure. Since the model does not have a closed form solution we first provide an analytical approximation for the case in which households own abundant liquid wealth. It turns out that precautionary motives still matter because of fluctuations of the p...

  15. Web 2.0 in healthcare: state-of-the-art in the German health insurance landscape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuehne, Mirko; Blinn, Nadine; Rosenkranz, Christoph; Nuettgens, Markus

    2011-01-01

    The Internet is increasingly used as a source for information and knowledge. Even in the field of healthcare, information is widely available. Patients and their relatives increasingly use the Internet in order to search for healthcare information and applications. "Health 2.0" - the increasing use of Web 2.0 technologies and tools in Electronic Healthcare - promises new ways of interaction, communication, and participation for healthcare. In order to explore how Web 2.0 applications are in general adopted and implemented by health information providers, we analysed the websites of all German health insurances companies regarding their provision of Web 2.0 applications. As health insurances play a highly relevant role in the German healthcare system, we conduct an exploratory survey in order to provide answers about the adoption and implementation of Web 2.0 technologies. Hence, all 198 private and public health insurances were analysed according to their websites. The results show a wide spread diffusion of Web 2.0 applications but also huge differences between the implementation by the respective insurances. Therefore, our findings provide a foundation for further research on aspects that drive the adoption.

  16. Insurance dictionary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller-Lutz, H.L.

    1984-01-01

    Special technical terms used in the world of insurance can hardly be found in general dictionaries. This is a gap which the 'Insurance dictionary' now presented is designed to fill. In view of its supplementary function, the number of terms covered is limited to 1200. To make this dictionary especially convenient for ready reference, only the most commonly used translations are given for each key word in any of the four languages. This dictionary is subdivided into four parts, each containing the translation of the selected terms in the three other languages. To further facilitate the use of the booklet, paper of different colours was used for the printing of the German, English, French and Greek sections. The present volume was developed from a Swedish insurance dictionary (Fickordbok Foersaekring), published in 1967, which - with Swedish as the key language- offers English, French and German translations of the basic insurance terms. (orig./HP) [de

  17. Dental insurance! Are we ready?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravi SS Toor

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Dental insurance is insurance designed to pay the costs associated with dental care. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI bill which was put forward in the winter session of the Lok Sabha (2008 focused on increasing the foreign investment share from the existing 26% to 49% in the insurance companies of India. This will allow the multibillion dollar international insurance companies to enter the Indian market and subsequently cover all aspects of insurance in India. Dental insurance will be an integral a part of this system. Dental insurance is a new concept in Southeast Asia as very few countries in Southeast Asia cover this aspect of insurance. It is important that the dentists in India should be acquainted with the different types of plans these companies are going to offer and about a new relationship which is going to emerge in the coming years between dentist, patient and the insurance company.

  18. Anti-bacterial activities and phytochemical screening of extracts of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Anti-bacterial activity tests were carried out using disc diffusion assay and tube dilution technique, and phytochemical screening was carried out through Thin Layer Chromatography. The crude extracts showed antibacterial effects on M. vaccae, P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis. M. vaccae was most sensitive, particularly to the ...

  19. The insurance of nuclear installations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Francis, H.W.

    1977-01-01

    A brief account is given of the development of nuclear insurance. The subject is dealt with under the following headings: the need for nuclear insurance, nuclear insurance pools, international co-operation, nuclear installations which may be insured, international conventions relating to the liability of operators of nuclear installations, classes of nuclear insurance, nuclear reactor hazards and their assessment, future developments. (U.K.)

  20. Regulated Medicare Advantage And Marketplace Individual Health Insurance Markets Rely On Insurer Competition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Richard G; McGuire, Thomas G

    2017-09-01

    Two important individual health insurance markets-Medicare Advantage and the Marketplaces-are tightly regulated but rely on competition among insurers to supply and price health insurance products. Many local health insurance markets have little competition, which increases prices to consumers. Furthermore, both markets are highly subsidized in ways that can exacerbate the impact of market power-that is, the ability to set price above cost-on health insurance prices. Policy makers need to foster robust competition in both sectors and avoid designing subsidies that make the market-power problem worse. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  1. Group Life Insurance

    CERN Multimedia

    2013-01-01

    The CERN Administration would like to remind you that staff members and fellows have the possibility to take out a life insurance contract on favourable terms through a Group Life Insurance.   This insurance is provided by the company Helvetia and is available to you on a voluntary basis. The premium, which varies depending on the age and gender of the person insured, is calculated on the basis of the amount of the death benefit chosen by the staff member/fellow and can be purchased in slices of 10,000 CHF.    The contract normally ends at the retirement age (65/67 years) or when the staff member/fellow leaves the Organization. The premium is deducted monthly from the payroll.   Upon retirement, the staff member can opt to maintain his membership under certain conditions.   More information about Group Life Insurance can be found at: Regulations (in French) Table of premiums The Pension Fund Benefit Service &...

  2. Nuclear insurance fire risk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dressler, E.G.

    2001-01-01

    Nuclear facilities operate under the constant risk that radioactive materials could be accidentally released off-site and cause injuries to people or damages to the property of others. Management of this nuclear risk, therefore, is very important to nuclear operators, financial stakeholders and the general public. Operators of these facilities normally retain a portion of this risk and transfer the remainder to others through an insurance mechanism. Since the nuclear loss exposure could be very high, insurers usually assess their risk first-hand by sending insurance engineers to conduct a nuclear insurance inspection. Because a serious fire can greatly increase the probability of an off-site release of radiation, fire safety should be included in the nuclear insurance inspection. This paper reviews essential elements of a facility's fire safety program as a key factor in underwriting nuclear third-party liability insurance. (author)

  3. Risks and nuclear insurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Debaets, M.; Springett, G.D.; Luotonen, K.; Virole, J.

    1988-01-01

    When analysing the nuclear insurance market, three elements must be taken into account: the nuclear operator's liability is regulated by national laws and/or international Conventions, such operators pay large premiums to insure their nuclear installations against property damage and finally, the nuclear insurance market is made up of pools and is mainly a monopoly. This report describes the different types of insurance coverage, the system governing nuclear third party liability under the Paris Convention and the Brussels Supplementary Convention and several national laws in that field. The last part of the report deals with liability and insurance aspects of international transport of nuclear materials [fr

  4. 46 CFR 308.403 - Insured amounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... total amount of war risk insurance obtainable from companies authorized to do an insurance business in a... MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK INSURANCE War Risk Builder's Risk Insurance § 308.403 Insured amounts. (a) Prelaunching period. The amount insured during...

  5. THE IMPACT OF COOPERATION BETWEEN INSURERS AND BANKS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INSURANCE SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataliya Prikazyuk

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The article highlights how the cooperation of insurance companies and banks affects the insurance system. Defined the concept of bancassurance, provided a brief description of the main bancassurance models in the context of their impact on the insurance system. Defined the main benefits and risks that accompany cooperation of insurance companies and banks within different models of association. It is noted that despite the generally accepted benefits of cooperation between insurers and banks, financial intermediaries’ unions often carry significant risks. Benefits from the cooperation of insurance companies and banks are disclosed with operational, marketing and financial aspects. The purpose of the article is to study the forms of cooperation between financial intermediaries and their impact on the insurance system. Methodology. The study is based on theoretical methods to study this problem. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is works of scientists on the models of cooperation between insurers and banks. The dialectical method of cognition as well as such methods as logical generalization, structural and systematic analysis are used to study the methodological foundations of banks’ impact on the insurance companies and insurance system. Results. Banking activity has a significant impact on the insurance system. This impact is noticeable at the micro-level: insurers and banks can be clients of each other as well as they can sign cooperation agreements. A significant positive impact of the bancassurance on the activities of both financial institutions within the synergy that appears during their cooperation is highlighted in the article. Respectively, the insurance company and the bank are experiencing the benefits of cooperation along with savings on fixed, variable costs and obtaining additional profits; simplifying and optimization of the process of collecting and processing information; savings on advertising and

  6. Counseling as an Insured Benefit: Perspectives from the Insurance Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fulton, Wallace C.

    1974-01-01

    Article discusses the feasibility of marriage counseling as an insurance benefit in the future. It is suggested that the physician be used as a marriage counselor in that insurance companies will pay for medical services. (EK)

  7. ANTAGONISM AGAINST VIBRIO CHOLERAE BY BACTERIAL DIFFUSIBLE COMPOUND IN THE FECAL MICROBIOTA OF RODENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silva Simone Helena da

    1998-01-01

    Full Text Available In an ex vivo agar plate assay, we monitored the appearance of an inhibitory halo against Vibrio cholerae from the feces of Wistar and Fischer rats aged 10 to 42 days. The frequency of Wistar rats showing halo increased from 0% (10 days to a maximum of 80.0% (29 days and then decreased to 53.3% (42 days. A similar pattern was obtained with Fischer rats but with a lower intensity (maximum frequency of 50.0% by day 36. In a separate experiment, when Wistar rats were fed a low-protein diet for 7 days, the inhibitory halo decreased drastically. Three apparently different colony morphologies were isolated from the dominant fecal microbiota: a facultative anaerobe (FAN and two strict anaerobes (SAN. The ex vivo inhibitory test showed a halo around the feces of germfree mice monoassociated with the FAN bacterium or one of the SAN bacterium but not of the germfree ones. After oral challenge of all groups with V. cholerae, a permissive and a drastic barrier effects were observed in mice with FAN and SAN associated bacteria, respectively. The FAN and one SAN bacteria used in the in vivo challenges were identified as Escherichia coli and Streptococcus intermedius, respectively. The potent antagonism developed by the rat intestinal microbiota against V. cholerae seems to be due, in part, to diffusible compounds and this phenomenon depends apparently on age, strain and nutrition of the animals. These preliminary results also suggest that this effect was due to more than one bacterial component at any given moment.

  8. THE ROLE OF REINSURANCE IN INSURANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    VĂDUVA MARIA

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Insurance companies carry out risk spreading through the co-insurance and reinsurance mechanism, consisting of the participation of more companies in the provision of high-value assets. Reinsurance is a form of insurance whereby an insurance organization can transfer to another reinsurer, partly or fully, its payment obligations arising from the insurance contracts that it has concluded. In the reinsurance ratios, the insurance companies appear in a double position - giving other insurance companies some of the risks assumed under direct insurance, being reinsured, but receiving different risks to reinsurance, acquiring the quality of reinsurers. Reinsurance intends to satisfy some multiple needs of the direct insurer and can provide means to counteract the risks associated with the fluctuations in compensation costs, the reinsurer will contribute to the payment of compensations on behalf of the reinsurer. Life insurance has characteristics that influence reinsurance: the average life of the insurance, the insurance is concluded for a fixed amount insured, the capital accumulation. In life reinsurance, almost all reinsurance arrangements are proportional agreements, and the largest share have the "surplus" agreements. Reinsurance plays an important role because it fulfills the following functions: it confers capacity, creates stability, helps to consolidate financial strength. The adjustment of the client portfolio in terms of the changes of reinsurance agreement, required by the reinsurer, can only be done by concluding the insurance contracts. In life insurance, reinsurance contracts contain provisions that meet the need of the insurer to have long-term protection.

  9. Gaussian and Affine Approximation of Stochastic Diffusion Models for Interest and Mortality Rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcus C. Christiansen

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available In the actuarial literature, it has become common practice to model future capital returns and mortality rates stochastically in order to capture market risk and forecasting risk. Although interest rates often should and mortality rates always have to be non-negative, many authors use stochastic diffusion models with an affine drift term and additive noise. As a result, the diffusion process is Gaussian and, thus, analytically tractable, but negative values occur with positive probability. The argument is that the class of Gaussian diffusions would be a good approximation of the real future development. We challenge that reasoning and study the asymptotics of diffusion processes with affine drift and a general noise term with corresponding diffusion processes with an affine drift term and an affine noise term or additive noise. Our study helps to quantify the error that is made by approximating diffusive interest and mortality rate models with Gaussian diffusions and affine diffusions. In particular, we discuss forward interest and forward mortality rates and the error that approximations cause on the valuation of life insurance claims.

  10. 77 FR 22691 - Fees on Health Insurance Policies and Self-Insured Plans for the Patient-Centered Outcomes...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-17

    ... 1545-BK59 Fees on Health Insurance Policies and Self-Insured Plans for the Patient-Centered Outcomes... certain health insurance policies and plan sponsors of certain self-insured health plans to fund the... health insurance policies) or R. Lisa Mojiri-Azad at (202) 622-6080 (regarding self- insured health...

  11. School Insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1964

    The importance of insurance in the school budget is the theme of this comprehensive bulletin on the practices and policies for Texas school districts. Also considered is the development of desirable school board policies in purchasing insurance and operating the program. Areas of discussion are: risks to be covered, amount of coverage, values,…

  12. Antibacterial activity of some disinfectants, essential oils and radiation against some bacterial isolates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramadan, A.B.; Abo-State, M.A.M.; Ghaly, M.F.; Ezzat, S.M.; Hefni, H.M.I.

    2006-01-01

    Nosocomial bacteria has been considered problems for all hospitals. Bacterial isolates of the present study were isolated from Sharkia Hospitals, Egypt. The isolates were S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Citrobacter spp., Enterobacter spp., Proteus spp., Serratia spp. and S. epidermidis. Two disinfectants (savlon and phenolics) were examined against all the bacterial isolates at the hospitals recommended concentrations to determine the most resistance bacterial isolates. Twelve essential oils, ultraviolet radiation, Gamma radiation and laser were tested against the most resistant bacterial isolates to disinfectants and antiseptics. These bacterial isolates were S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The most effective concentration of savlon was 2%, while that of phenolics were 4 and 5% . Fumigation of essential oils of Eugenia caryophyllata L., Marjorum hortensis L., Foeniculum vulgare L., Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Thymus vulgaris L. had high effects against these bacterial isolates. Rosmarinus officinalis L., Marjorum hortensis L., Eugenia caryophyllata L. and Thymus vulgaris L. essential oils had high effects on bacterial isolates by disc diffusion method. Matricaria chamomilla L. and Eucalyptus spp. oils had no effects against P. aeruginosa. Both essential oils of Jasminum gradiflocum L. and Jasminum sambac L. had no effects by fumigation and diffused essential oils. Ultraviolet irradiation had lethal effect on S. aureus when it exposed to ultraviolet for 10 minutes at a distance of 20 cm, while it had a lethal effect on P. aeruginosa when exposed to the rays for 7 minutes at the same distance. Gamma irradiation had lethal effect on P. aeruginosa and S. aureus at 2.5 and 3 KGy, respectively. Laser had a lethal effect on P. aeruginosa and S. aureus after 14 and 15 minutes of exposure, respectively

  13. ENDOWMENT LIFE INSURANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeljko Sain

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper that treats the actuarial model of insurance in case of survival or early death is to show the actuarial methods and methodology for creating a model and an appropriate number of sub-models of the most popular form of life insurance in the world. The paper applies the scientific methodology of the deductive character based on scientific, theoretical knowledge and practical realities. Following the basic theoretical model’s determinants, which are at the beginning of the paper, the basic difference between models further in this paper was carried out according to the character of the premium to be paid. Finally, the financial repercussions of some models are presented at examples in insurance companies. The result of this paper is to show the spectrum of possible forms of capital endowment insurance which can be, without major problems, depending on the financial policy of the company, applied in actual practice. The conclusion of this paper shows the theoretical and the practical reality of this model, life insurance, and its quantitative and qualitative guidelines.

  14. Bacterial levels in the Nyl River system, Limpopo province, South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Heterotrophic plate counts, faecal coliform counts and total coliform counts indicated that the system was stressed. The Modimolle sewage treatment works and local agricultural activities were found to be the point and diffuse sources of bacterial contamination, respectively. African Journal of Aquatic Science 2010, 35(1): ...

  15. Anti-bacterial activity of Plumbago zeylanica L. roots on some ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The anti bacterial activity of polar and non-polar extracts prepared from the roots of Plumbago zeylanica L. (Plumbaginaceae), a plant widely used in Ethiopian traditional medicine for various ailments were investigated using hole plate diffusion method against some pneumonia causing pathogens. The aqueous extract did ...

  16. THE IMPACT OF COOPERATION BETWEEN INSURERS AND BANKS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INSURANCE SYSTEM

    OpenAIRE

    Nataliya Prikazyuk; Ganna Oliynik

    2017-01-01

    The article highlights how the cooperation of insurance companies and banks affects the insurance system. Defined the concept of bancassurance, provided a brief description of the main bancassurance models in the context of their impact on the insurance system. Defined the main benefits and risks that accompany cooperation of insurance companies and banks within different models of association. It is noted that despite the generally accepted benefits of cooperation between insurers and banks,...

  17. The spillover effects of health insurance benefit mandates on public insurance coverage: Evidence from veterans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaoxue; Ye, Jinqi

    2017-09-01

    This study examines how regulations in private health insurance markets affect coverage of public insurance. We focus on mental health parity laws, which mandate private health insurance to provide equal coverage for mental and physical health services. The implementation of mental health parity laws may improve a quality dimension of private health insurance but at increased costs. We graphically develop a conceptual framework and then empirically examine whether the regulations shift individuals from private to public insurance. We exploit state-by-year variation in policy implementation in 1999-2008 and focus on a sample of veterans, who have better access to public insurance than non-veterans. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we find that the parity laws reduce employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage by 2.1% points. The drop in ESI is largely offset by enrollment gains in public insurance, namely through the Veterans Affairs (VA) benefit and Medicaid/Medicare programs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Nonlife Insurance Pricing:

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darooneh, Amir H.

    We consider the insurance company as a physical system which is immersed in its environment (the financial market). The insurer company interacts with the market by exchanging the money through the payments for loss claims and receiving the premium. Here, in the equilibrium state, we obtain the premium by using the canonical ensemble theory, and compare it with the Esscher principle, the well-known formula in actuary for premium calculation. We simulate the case of car insurance for quantitative comparison.

  19. Nuclear energy and insurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dow, J.C.

    1989-01-01

    It was the risk of contamination of ships from the Pacific atmospheric atomic bomb tests in the 1940's that seems first to have set insurers thinking that a limited amount of cover would be a practical possibility if not a commercially-attractive proposition. One Chapter of this book traces the early, hesitant steps towards the evolution of ''nuclear insurance'', as it is usually called; a term of convenience rather than exactitude because it seems to suggest an entirely new branch of insurance with a status of its own like that of Marine, Life or Motor insurance. Insurance in the field of nuclear energy is more correctly regarded as the application of the usual, well-established forms of cover to unusual kinds of industrial plant, materials and liabilities, characterised by the peculiar dangers of radioactivity which have no parallel among the common hazards of industry and commerce. It had, and still has, the feature that individual insurance underwriters are none too keen to look upon nuclear risks as a potential source of good business and profit. Only by joining together in Syndicates or Pools have the members of the national insurance markets been able to make proper provision for nuclear risks; only by close international collaboration among the national Pools have the insurers of the world been able to assemble adequate capacity - though still, even after thirty years, not sufficient to provide complete coverage for a large nuclear installation. (author)

  20. Forecasting Fire Insurance Loss Ratio in Misr Insurance Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tarek TAHA

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Loss ratio is one of the most important indicator that has many strategic decisions applications, such as pricing, underwriting, investment, reinsurance and reserving decisions. It serves as an early warning of financial solvency of insurance companies and it can be judged on the strength of the financial position of these companies. The aim of this study is to identify the reliable time series-forecasting model to forecast loss ratio estimates of fire segment in Misr insurance company. Box-Jenkins Analysis is applied on actual reported loss ratios data for Misr insurance company for the period 1980/1981– 2013/2014. The study concludes that the best forecasting model is ARMA(1,1.

  1. Modern problems in insurance mathematics

    CERN Document Server

    Martin-Löf, Anders

    2014-01-01

    This book is a compilation of 21 papers presented at the International Cramér Symposium on Insurance Mathematics (ICSIM) held at Stockholm University in June, 2013. The book comprises selected contributions from several large research communities in modern insurance mathematics and its applications. The main topics represented in the book are modern risk theory and its applications, stochastic modelling of insurance business, new mathematical problems in life and non-life insurance, and related topics in applied and financial mathematics. The book is an original and useful source of inspiration and essential reference for a broad spectrum of theoretical and applied researchers, research students and experts from the insurance business. In this way, Modern Problems in Insurance Mathematics will contribute to the development of research and academy–industry co-operation in the area of insurance mathematics and its applications.

  2. Simulation Of Premi Calculation Claims Insurance Base On Web; Case Study PT. Sinarmas Insurance Padang

    OpenAIRE

    Rohendi, Keukeu; Putra, Ilham Eka

    2016-01-01

    Sinarmas currently has several insurance services featured. To perform its function as a good insurance company is need for reform in terms of services in the process of calculating insurance premiums of insurance carried by marketing to use a calculator which interferes with the activities of marketing activities, slow printing insurance policies, automobile claims process that requires the customer to come to the office ASM, slow printing of Work Order (SPK) and the difficulty recap custome...

  3. Implementing Automotive Telematics for Fleet Insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marika Azzopardi

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The advantages of Usage-Based Insurance for automotive covers over conventional rating methods have been discussed in literature for over four decades. Notwithstanding their adoption in insurance markets has been slow. This paper seeks to establish the viability of introducing fleet Telematics-Based Insurance by investigating the perceptions of insurance operators, tracking service providers and corporate fleet owners. At its core, the study involves a SWOT-analysis to appraise Telematics-Based Insurance against conventional premium rating systems. Twenty five key stakeholders in Malta, a country with an insurance industry that represents others in microcosm, were interviewed to develop our analysis. We assert that local insurers have interests in such insurance schemes as enhanced fleet management and monitoring translate into an improved insurance risk. The findings presented here have implications for all stakeholders as we argue that telematics enhance fleet management, TBI improves risk management for insurers and adoption of this technology is dependent on telematics providers increasing the perceived control by insurers over managing this technology.

  4. 77 FR 28343 - Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers Required To File Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-14

    ... vehicle insurers that are required to file reports on their motor vehicle theft loss experiences. An... vehicles not covered by theft insurance policies issued by insurers of motor vehicles, other than any... than any governmental entity) used for rental or lease whose vehicles are not covered by theft...

  5. Health Insurance – Affiliation to LAMal insurance for families of CERN personnel

    CERN Multimedia

    Staff Association

    2017-01-01

    On May 16, the HR department published in the CERN Bulletin an article concerning cross-border workers (“frontaliers”) and the exercise of the right of choice in health insurance: « In view of the Agreement concluded on 7 July 2016 between Switzerland and France regarding the choice of health insurance system* for persons resident in France and working in Switzerland ("frontaliers"), the Swiss authorities have indicated that those persons who have not “formally exercised their right to choose a health insurance system before 30 September 2017 risk automatically becoming members of the Swiss LAMal system” and having to “pay penalties to their insurers that may amount to several years’ worth of contributions”. Among others, this applies to spouses of members of the CERN personnel who live in France and work in Switzerland. » But the CERN Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS), provides insuranc...

  6. Forest insurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis T. Williams

    1949-01-01

    Standing timber is one of the few important kinds of property that are not generally covered by insurance. Studies made by the Forest Service and other agencies have indicated that the risks involved in the insurance of timber are not unduly great, provided they can be properly distributed. Such studies, however, have thus far failed to induce any notable development...

  7. Role of nuclear insurance in US

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bardes, C.R.

    2000-01-01

    Private insurance companies developed means to provide first-tier nuclear coverage to operators of power plants and other nuclear facilities; US Government initially provided second tier. US insurance companies chose 'pooling' technique as means to provide large amounts of insurance capacity by spreading the risk over a number of insurance companies. Classic example of nuclear risk that presents low frequency, high severity loss potential. Insurers usually spread their risk over a large, fairly stable premium base, as with automobile insurance. The American Nuclear Insurers (ANI) and its roles are introduced in this article

  8. Diffusion of Antimicrobials Across Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zambelli, Alison M; Brothers, Kimberly M; Hunt, Kristin M; Romanowski, Eric G; Nau, Amy C; Dhaliwal, Deepinder K; Shanks, Robert M Q

    2015-09-01

    To measure the diffusion of topical preparations of moxifloxacin, amphotericin B (AmB), and polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) through silicone hydrogel (SH) contact lenses (CLs) in vitro. Using an in vitro model, the diffusion of three antimicrobials through SH CLs was measured. Diffused compounds were measured using a spectrophotometer at set time points over a period of 4 hr. The amount of each diffused antimicrobial was determined by comparing the experimental value with a standard curve. A biological assay was performed to validate the CL diffusion assay by testing antimicrobial activity of diffused material against lawns of susceptible bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Experiments were repeated at least two times with a total of at least four independent replicates. Our data show detectable moxifloxacin and PHMB diffusion through SH CLs at 30 min, whereas AmB diffusion remained below the limit of detection within the 4-hr experimental period. In the biological assay, diffused moxifloxacin demonstrated microbial killing starting at 20 min on bacterial lawns, whereas PHMB and AmB failed to demonstrate killing on microbial lawns over the course of the 60-min experiment. In vitro diffusion assays demonstrate limited penetration of certain anti-infective agents through SH CLs. Further studies regarding the clinical benefit of using these agents along with bandage CL for corneal pathologic condition are warranted.

  9. 75 FR 54041 - Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers Required To File Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-03

    .... Each insurer's report includes information about thefts and recoveries of motor vehicles, the rating... state and; (3) Rental and leasing companies with a fleet of 20 or more vehicles not covered by theft...) used for rental or lease whose vehicles are not covered by theft insurance policies issued by insurers...

  10. 48 CFR 28.308 - Self-insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... REQUIREMENTS BONDS AND INSURANCE Insurance 28.308 Self-insurance. (a) When it is anticipated that 50 percent or... risks, limits of coverage, assignments of safety and loss control, and legal service responsibilities... projected average loss; and (10) A disclosure of all captive insurance company and re-insurance agreements...

  11. Insurance of nuclear power stations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Debaets, M.

    1992-01-01

    Electrical utility companies have invested large sums in the establishment of nuclear facilities. For this reason it is normal for these companies to attempt to protect their investments as much as possible. One of the methods of protection is recourse to insurance. For a variety of reasons traditional insurance markets are unable to function normally for a number of reasons including, the insufficient number of risks, an absence of meaningful accident statistics, the enormous sums involved and a lack of familiarity with nuclear risks on the part of insurers, resulting in a reluctance or even refusal to accept such risks. Insurers have, in response to requests for coverage from nuclear power station operators, established an alternative system of coverage - insurance through a system of insurance pools. Insurers in every country unite in a pool, providing a net capacity for every risk which is a capacity covered by their own funds, and consequently without reinsurance. All pools exchange capacity. The inconvenience of this system, for the operators in particular, is that it involves a monopolistic system in which there are consequently few possibilities for the negotiation of premiums and conditions of coverage. The system does not permit the establishment of reserves which could, over time, reduce the need for insurance on the part of nuclear power station operators. Thus the cost of nuclear insurance remains high. Alternatives to the poor system of insurance are explored in this article. (author)

  12. Consumer in insurance law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Čorkalo Milena

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyses the notion of consumer in the European Union law, and, in particular, the notion of consumer in insurance law. The author highligts the differences between the notion of consumer is in aquis communautaire and in insurance law, discussing whether the consumer can be defined in both field in the same way, concerning that insurance services differ a lot from other kind of services. Having regarded unequal position of contracting parties and information and technical disadvantages of a weaker party, author pleads for broad definition of consumer in insurance law. In Serbian law, the consumer is not defined in consistent way. That applies on Serbian insurance law as well. Therefore, the necessity of precise and broad definition of consumes is underlined, in order to delimit the circle of subject who are in need for protection. The author holds that the issue of determination of the circle of persons entitled to extended protection as consumers is of vital importance for further development of insurance market in Serbia.

  13. The National Insurance Academy: Serving India's Insurance Professionals and Researchers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sane, Bhagyashree

    2011-01-01

    This article discusses how a special library can meet the needs of a specific industry. The author focuses on India's National Insurance Academy (NIA) Library, which serves the insurance industry of India and some neighboring countries. It is where the author serves as the chief librarian.

  14. 75 FR 42766 - National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-22

    ...] National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers, Availability of... Financial Assistance/Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement), (90 as of June 1, 2010) private sector property... Financial Assistance/ Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement) to notify private insurance companies (Companies...

  15. 76 FR 45281 - National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-28

    ...] National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); Assistance to Private Sector Property Insurers, Availability of... Financial Assistance/Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement), 87 (as of July 1, 2011) private sector property... Financial Assistance/ Subsidy Arrangement (Arrangement) to notify private insurance companies (Companies...

  16. Disposition of Insurance Allotment Payments

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Young, Shelton

    2001-01-01

    .... The request was prompted by action taken by the Florida Department of Insurance against two life insurance companies that had received large numbers of insurance allotments from Service members...

  17. Health Insurance without Single Crossing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boone, Jan; Schottmüller, Christoph

    2017-01-01

    Standard insurance models predict that people with high risks have high insurance coverage. It is empirically documented that people with high income have lower health risks and are better insured. We show that income differences between risk types lead to a violation of single crossing...... in an insurance model where people choose treatment intensity. We analyse different market structures and show the following: If insurers have market power, the violation of single crossing caused by income differences and endogenous treatment choice can explain the empirically observed outcome. Our results do...

  18. 75 FR 30106 - Terrorism Risk Insurance Program; Recordkeeping Requirements for Insurers Compensated Under the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-28

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Terrorism Risk Insurance Program; Recordkeeping Requirements for... Budget. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Office within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting... original and two copies) to: Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, Public Comment Record, Suite 2100...

  19. Uninsured vs. insured population

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Z. J.; Lin, Chyongchiou J; Chang, Chung-Chou H

    2003-01-01

    analyzed. Approximately 74 percent of uninsured Americans are nonelderly Americans. Among the nonelderly Americans, about 17 percent are uninsured. Our findings show that insurance status varies significantly by region, age, race, gender, marital status, income, education, employment status, and health......This study identified the underlying demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with insurance status among nonelderly Americans (age 19-64), as well as compared health care utilization between insured and uninsured. Data from the Community Tracking Study 1996-1997 Household Survey were...... status. Also, the insured nonelderly Americans were found to have better access to health care than the uninsured nonelderly....

  20. Unemployment Insurance and Inequality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Birthe; Waisman, Gisela

    This paper examines the impact of higher unemployment insurance on the fraction of the work force paying into an unemployment insurance fond, wage differences and therefore inquality and education letting worker initial wealth being important for the decisions and implied values. As usually higher...... educated workers receive a lower fraction of their wages as unemployment insurance, we consider how the impact on labour market performance and wage differences and thereby inequality differ dependent on whether educated or uneducated workers receive higher benefits. The model can help shed light...... on the the puzzle why only some workers, for given educational level, pay into an unemployment insurance fond, the lower wealth mobility than income mobility as well as the relative compressed wage structure in countries with generous social assistance as well as unemployment insurance for low income workers...

  1. Disability Income Insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Hayhoe, Celia Ray; Smith, Mike, CPF

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of disability income insurance is to partially replace your income if you are unable to work because of sickness or an accident. This guide reviews the types of disability insurance, important terms and concepts and employer provided benefits.

  2. Terrorism Risk Insurance: An Overview

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Webel, Baird

    2005-01-01

    .... Addressing this problem, Congress enacted the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) to create a temporary program to share future insured terrorism losses with the property-casualty insurance industry and policyholders...

  3. Optimal social insurance with linear income taxation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bovenberg, Lans; Sørensen, Peter Birch

    2009-01-01

    We study optimal social insurance aimed at insuring disability risk in the presence of linear income taxation. Optimal disability insurance benefits rise with previous earnings. Optimal insurance is incomplete even though disability risks are exogenous and verifiable so that moral hazard in disab...... in disability insurance is absent. Imperfect insurance is optimal because it encourages workers to insure themselves against disability by working and saving more, thereby alleviating the distortionary impact of the redistributive income tax on labor supply and savings.......We study optimal social insurance aimed at insuring disability risk in the presence of linear income taxation. Optimal disability insurance benefits rise with previous earnings. Optimal insurance is incomplete even though disability risks are exogenous and verifiable so that moral hazard...

  4. Imperfect Tests and Natural Insurance Monopolies

    OpenAIRE

    Emons, Winand

    1997-01-01

    This paper considers a housing insurance market in which buildings have different damage probabilities. Insurers use imperfect tests to find out about buildings’ damage types. The insurance market is a natural monopoly. If more than one insurer is active, high risk house owners continue to apply to insurers until they are eventually assigned to a low-risk class. First we show that the natural insurance monopoly need not be sustainable. Then we show that in the equilibrium industry structure t...

  5. The Normative Foundations of (Social) Insurance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Landes, Xavier

    Insurance mechanisms are prevalent in industrialized societies, in both public and private sectors. Insurance is offered for various risks ranging from fire to accident. They also constitute the core of the modern welfare state (public health insurance, unemployment benefits and public pensions......). The analysis of (public) insurance has however remained marginal in political theory because insurance is often perceived as a simple tool for pursuing equality, i.e. a tool without any moral significance proper. This text proposes an alternative view by drawing a continuum between insurance as a technology......, which is the common interpretation in economics, and insurance as a social practice, which characterizes social theory. The goal is to underline how the technology of insurance alters social practices by, for instance, promoting equal standing or transforming the paradigm of individual responsibility...

  6. Competitive Cyber-Insurance and Internet Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shetty, Nikhil; Schwartz, Galina; Felegyhazi, Mark; Walrand, Jean

    This paper investigates how competitive cyber-insurers affect network security and welfare of the networked society. In our model, a user's probability to incur damage (from being attacked) depends on both his security and the network security, with the latter taken by individual users as given. First, we consider cyberinsurers who cannot observe (and thus, affect) individual user security. This asymmetric information causes moral hazard. Then, for most parameters, no equilibrium exists: the insurance market is missing. Even if an equilibrium exists, the insurance contract covers only a minor fraction of the damage; network security worsens relative to the no-insurance equilibrium. Second, we consider insurers with perfect information about their users' security. Here, user security is perfectly enforceable (zero cost); each insurance contract stipulates the required user security. The unique equilibrium contract covers the entire user damage. Still, for most parameters, network security worsens relative to the no-insurance equilibrium. Although cyber-insurance improves user welfare, in general, competitive cyber-insurers fail to improve network security.

  7. A utility theory approach for insurance pricing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Gharakhani

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Providing insurance contract with “deductible” is beneficial for both insurer and insured. In this paper, we provide a utility modeling approach to handle insurance pricing and evaluate the tradeoff between discount benefit and deductible level. We analyze four different pricing problems of no insurance, full insurance coverage, insurance with β% deductible and insurance with D-dollar deductible based on a given utility function. A numerical example is also used to illustrate some interesting results.

  8. 75 FR 15777 - Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Basic Provisions; and Various Crop Insurance Provisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-30

    ... (protection for production losses only) within one Basic Provisions and the applicable Crop Provisions to..., Macadamia Nut Crop Insurance Provisions, Onion Crop Insurance Provisions, Dry Pea Crop Insurance Provisions... (protection for production losses only) and revenue protection (protection against loss of revenue caused by...

  9. Group life insurance

    CERN Multimedia

    2013-01-01

    The CERN Administration wishes to inform staff members and fellows having taken out optional life insurance under the group contract signed by CERN that the following changes to the rules and regulations entered into force on 1 January 2013:   The maximum age for an active member has been extended from 65 to 67 years. The beneficiary clause now allows insured persons to designate one or more persons of their choice to be their beneficiary(-ies), either at the time of taking out the insurance or at a later date, in which case the membership/modification form must be updated accordingly. Beneficiaries must be clearly identified (name, first name, date of birth, address).   The membership/modification form is available on the FP website: http://fp.web.cern.ch/helvetia-life-insurance For further information, please contact: Valentina Clavel (Tel. 73904) Peggy Pithioud (Tel. 72736)

  10. Cellular automaton simulation of the diffusive motion of bacteria and their adhesion to nanostructures on a solid surface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Takehiro; Emura, Chie; Oya, Masashi

    2016-12-01

    The growth of a biofilm begins with the adhesion of bacteria to a solid surface. Consequently, biofilm growth can be managed by the control of bacterial adhesion. Recent experimental studies have suggested that bacterial adhesion can be controlled by modifying a solid surface using nanostructures. Computational prediction and analysis of bacterial adhesion behavior are expected to be useful for the design of effective arrangements of nanostructures for controlling bacterial adhesion. The present study developed a cellular automaton (CA) model for bacterial adhesion simulation that could describe both the diffusive motion of bacteria and dependence of their adhesion patterns on the distance between nanostructures observed in experimental studies. The diffusive motion was analyzed by the moment scaling spectrum theory, and the present model was confirmed to describe subdiffusion behavior due to obstacles. Adhesion patterns observed in experimental studies can be successfully simulated by introducing CA rules to describe a mechanism by which bacteria tend to move to increase the area of contact with nanostructures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. 26 CFR 1.831-1 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual... companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, and mutual fire insurance... insurance companies and mutual fire insurance companies exclusively issuing either perpetual policies, or...

  12. Competition between health maintenance organizations and nonintegrated health insurance companies in health insurance markets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baranes, Edmond; Bardey, David

    2015-12-01

    This article examines a model of competition between two types of health insurer: Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and nonintegrated insurers. HMOs vertically integrate health care providers and pay them at a competitive price, while nonintegrated health insurers work as indemnity plans and pay the health care providers freely chosen by policyholders at a wholesale price. Such difference is referred to as an input price effect which, at first glance, favors HMOs. Moreover, we assume that policyholders place a positive value on the provider diversity supplied by their health insurance plan and that this value increases with the probability of disease. Due to the restricted choice of health care providers in HMOs a risk segmentation occurs: policyholders who choose nonintegrated health insurers are characterized by higher risk, which also tends to favor HMOs. Our equilibrium analysis reveals that the equilibrium allocation only depends on the number of HMOs in the case of exclusivity contracts between HMOs and providers. Surprisingly, our model shows that the interplay between risk segmentation and input price effects may generate ambiguous results. More precisely, we reveal that vertical integration in health insurance markets may decrease health insurers' premiums.

  13. The Complexity of E-Insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marius GAVRILETEA

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The importance and increasing role of Internet in nowadays business area are officially recognized. No matter the industry a company is operating in, the distribution channels include direct sales through Internet. Following this idea, also the insurance companies decided to sell their insurance policy online. In this paper we analyze the advantages of Internet for insurance companies, the threats and the actual situation for Romanian insurers

  14. Social health insurance

    CERN Document Server

    International Labour Office. Geneva

    1997-01-01

    This manual provides an overview of social health insurance schemes and looks at the development of health care policies and feasibility issues. It also examines the design of health insurance schemes, health care benefits, financing and costs and considers the operational and strategic information requirements.

  15. Polymorphism in Bacterial Flagella Suspensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwenger, Walter J.

    Bacterial flagella are a type of biological polymer studied for its role in bacterial motility and the polymorphic transitions undertaken to facilitate the run and tumble behavior. The naturally rigid, helical shape of flagella gives rise to novel colloidal dynamics and material properties. This thesis studies methods in which the shape of bacterial flagella can be controlled using in vitro methods and the changes the shape of the flagella have on both single particle dynamics and bulk material properties. We observe individual flagellum in both the dilute and semidilute regimes to observe the effects of solvent condition on the shape of the filament as well as the effect the filament morphology has on reptation through a network of flagella. In addition, we present rheological measurements showing how the shape of filaments effects the bulk material properties of flagellar suspensions. We find that the individual particle dynamics in suspensions of flagella can vary with geometry from needing to reptate linearly via rotation for helical filaments to the prevention of long range diffusion for block copolymer filaments. Similarly, for bulk material properties of flagella suspensions, helical geometries show a dramatic enhancement in elasticity over straight filaments while block copolymers form an elastic gel without the aid of crosslinking agents.

  16. Evaluating the Welfare of Index Insurance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harrison, Glenn W.; Martínez-Correa, Jimmy; Ng, Jia Min

    affects both the demand for the product and the welfare of individuals making take-up decisions. We study the impact of basis risk on insurance take-up and on expected welfare in a laboratory experiment with an insurance frame. We measure the expected welfare of index insurance to individuals while......Index insurance was conceived to be a product that would simplify the claim settlement process and make it more objective, reducing transaction costs and moral hazard. However, index insurance also exposes the insured to basis risk, which arises because there can be a mismatch between the index...... risks that are different from preferences exhibited for their actuarially-equivalent counterparts. We study the potential link between index insurance demand and attitudes towards compound risks. We test the hypothesis that the compound risk nature of index insurance induced by basis risk negatively...

  17. The insurance of climatic risks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pauthier, Alice

    2015-06-01

    The United Nations Environment Programme assesses that the cost of adaptation to climate change could reach 150 billions dollars per year by 2025-2030 and 500 billions dollars by 2050. This raises the issues of financing of adaptation measures, and of compensations in case of natural disaster, and insurance companies here seem to have a major role to play. However, the modification of the climatic risk puts the viability of conventional insurance mechanisms into question again. While discussing these issues, the author outlines that a sustainable insurance against these evolving risks may threaten insurance companies to go to bankrupt, but also all their policyholders who are, for most of them, unable to cope by themselves with the consequences of an extreme climatic event. The author also discusses related aspects such as risk modelling, risk mutualization, a securing of insurance companies based on the financial market, the implementation of public-private partnership, and ways to insure climate anomalies. She also comments the commitment of the insurance sector in adaptation and mitigation policies

  18. Aggravation of Risk and Precautionary Measures in Non-Life Insurance: A Tricky Scope for the Insurer?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olavi-Jüri Luik

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Aggravation of risk and failure to take precautionary measures are focal issues in non-life insurance in terms of potential partial or full release of the insurer from the duty to perform. Not infrequently, it is difficult to draw a line between the aggravation of risk on the one hand, and non-compliance with precautionary measures on the other, since a particular action by a policyholder may present both situations. At the same time, the legal remedies available to the insurer regarding these two situations are different in scope. The aggravation of risk and non-compliance with precautionary measures are precisely the bases on which insurers actually reduce indemnity or refuse to compensate for damages. This article explores the differences between insurance laws in the Baltic states—specifically, the Estonian Law of Obligations Act, the Latvian Insurance Contract Law and Lithuanian rules contained in the Civil Code and Insurance Law. The article explores the differences between the Baltic states’ insurance laws and the Principles of European Insurance Contract Law (PEICL with regard to a policyholder’s duty in relation to aggravation of risk and precautionary measures, as the rights and obligations of policyholders do change where the optional instrument is applied. The article also includes comparisons to German, Finnish and Russian insurance law.

  19. Nuclear power plants and their insurances

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schludi, H.N.

    1984-01-01

    From the commencement of building to the time of decommissioning of nuclear power plants, the insurances provide continuous coverage, i.e. for construction, nuclear liability, nuclear energy hazards insurance, fire insurance, machinery insurance. The respective financial security is quantified. (DG) [de

  20. Nuclear insurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1993-01-01

    The German Nuclear Power Plant Insurance (DKVG) Association was able to increase its net capacity in property insurance to 637 million marks in 1993 (1992: 589 million). The reinsurance capacity of the other pools included, the total amount covered now amounts to 2 billion marks in property incurance and 200 million marks in liability incurance. As in the year before the pool can reckon with a stable gross premium yield around 175 million marks. The revival of the US dollar has played a decisive role in this development. In 1993 in the domestic market, the DKVG offered policies for 22 types of property risk and 43 types to third-party risk, operating with a gross target premium of 65 million marks and 16 million marks, respectively. The DKVG also participated in 540 foreign insurance contracts. (orig./HSCH) [de

  1. Health insurance for "frontaliers"

    CERN Multimedia

    2013-01-01

    The French government has decided that, with effect from 1 June 2014, persons resident in France but working in Switzerland (hereinafter referred to as “frontaliers”) will no longer be entitled to opt for private French health insurance provision as their sole and principal health insurance.   The right of choice, which was granted by the Bilateral Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the European Union and which came into force on 1 June 2002, exempts “frontaliers” from the obligation to become a member of Switzerland’s compulsory health insurance scheme (LAMal) if they can prove that they have equivalent coverage in France, provided by either the French social security system (CMU) or a private French insurance provider. As the latter option of private health insurance as an alternative to membership of LAMal will be revoked under the new French legislation that will come into force on 1 June 2014, current “...

  2. THE ROLE OF THE WORLD INSURANCE MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonina Sholoiko

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose is to define a role and significance of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. Tasks of the study are the next: to consider the dynamics of development of the world insurance market from 2012 to 2016; to define groups of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure; to characterize elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. Methodology. These tasks are done because of using such methods as: grouping of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure; a collection of information about elements of the world insurance market infrastructure; generalization to define role and significance of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. Results. World insurance premiums were increasing and decreasing from 2012 to 2016 and did not exceed 6.3% of Gross Domestic Product. Lots of factors influence global insurance premium volume as an indicator of the development of world insurance market. One of them is an activity of the elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. It is necessary to divide them into some groups: A International insurance associations (associations of organizations connected with insurance but members of such associations do not provide insurance services – International Association of Insurance Supervisors, International Association of Insurance Fraud Agencies, Global Federation of Insurance Associations, International Insurance Foundation; B International associations of insurers (includes associations of insurers and other organizations in a certain area of insurance – International Association of Deposit Insurers, International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers, International Association of Agricultural Production Insurers, International Group of P&I Clubs, International Union of Aerospace Insurers, International Union of Marine Insurance, International Association of Engineering Insurers; C International associations of insurance experts

  3. The Effects of Health Shocks on Employment and Health Insurance: The Role of Employer-Provided Health Insurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradley, Cathy J.; Neumark, David; Motika, Meryl

    2012-01-01

    Background Employment-contingent health insurance (ECHI) has been criticized for tying insurance to continued employment. Our research sheds light on two central issues regarding employment-contingent health insurance: whether such insurance “locks” people who experience a health shock into remaining at work; and whether it puts people at risk for insurance loss upon the onset of illness, because health shocks pose challenges to continued employment. Objective To determine how men’s dependence on their own employer for health insurance affects labor supply responses and health insurance coverage following a health shock. Data Sources We use the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) surveys from 1996 through 2008 to observe employment and health insurance status at interviews two years apart, and whether a health shock occurred in the intervening period between the interviews. Study Selection All employed married men with health insurance either through their own employer or their spouse’s employer, interviewed in at least two consecutive HRS waves with non-missing data on employment, insurance, health, demographic, and other variables, and under age 64 at the second interview. We limited the sample to men who were initially healthy. Data Extraction Our analytical sample consisted of 1,582 men of whom 1,379 had ECHI at the first interview, while 203 were covered by their spouse’s employer. Hospitalization affected 209 men with ECHI and 36 men with spouse insurance. A new disease diagnosis was reported by 103 men with ECHI and 22 men with other insurance. There were 171 men with ECHI and 25 men with spouse employer insurance who had a self-reported health decline. Data Synthesis Labor supply response differences associated with ECHI – with men with health shocks and ECHI more likely to continue working – appear to be driven by specific types of health shocks associated with future higher health care costs but not with immediate increases in morbidity that

  4. Considerations on Albanian Life Insurance Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gentiana Sharku

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The life insurance sector is an important sector of the economy all over the world. Life insurance provides the economy and the individuals as well, a variety of fundamental financial services.Regardless the importance it has all around the world, life insurance market in Albania is still underdeveloped comparing not only to the Western European countries, but to the region countries as well. The comparative analysis of insurance market is carried out by means of two indexes: insurance density and penetration index. The life insurance market in Albania is facing several problems which will be further explained in the paper, together with some recommendations to be taken in account by Albanian insurance companies and the Albanian government as well.

  5. Web 2.0 as a new channel for innovation diffusion: The case study of renewable energy products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rim Gharbi Mrabet

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, social web and social media are considered as new communication’ channels that enable the diffusion of new products and innovations, such as: renewable energy products. In addition, renewable energies become the new alternative source of energy that insures environmental benefits, economic returns and social welfare.Hence, we will focus in this study on the impact of the use of web 2.0 and social networks in the diffusion of renewable energy products.

  6. PREMIUMS CALCULATION FOR LIFE INSURANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ANA PREDA

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the techniques and the formulas used on international practice for establishing the premiums for a life policy. The formulas are generally based on a series of indicators named mortality indicators which mainly point out the insured survival probability, the death probability and life expectancy at certain age. I determined, using a case study, the unique net premium, the annual net premium for a survival insurance, whole life insurance and mixed life insurance.

  7. METHODICAL BASES OF MANAGEMENT OF INSURANCE PORTFOLIO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serdechna Yulia

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Despite the considerable arsenal of developments in the issues of assessing the management of the insurance portfolio remains unresolved. In order to detail, specify and further systematize the indicators for the indicated evaluation, the publications of scientists are analyzed. The purpose of the study is to analyze existing methods by which it is possible to formulate and manage the insurance portfolio in order to achieve its balance, which will contribute to ensuring the financial reliability of the insurance company. Results. The description of the essence of the concept of “management of insurance portfolio”, as the application of actuarial methods and techniques to the combination of various insurance risks offered for insurance or are already part of the insurance portfolio, allowing to adjust the size and structure of the portfolio in order to ensure its financial stability, achievement the maximum level of income of an insurance organization, preservation of the value of its equity and financial security of insurance liabilities. It is determined that the main methods by which the insurer’s insurance portfolio can be formed and managed is the selection of risks; reinsurance operations that ensure diversification of risks; formation and placement of insurance reserves, which form the financial basis of insurance activities. The method of managing an insurance portfolio, which can be both active and passive, is considered. Conclusions. It is determined that the insurance portfolio is the basis on which all the activities of the insurer are based and which determines its financial stability. The combination of methods and technologies applied to the insurance portfolio is a management method that can be both active and passive and has a number of specific methods through which the insurer’s insurance portfolio can be formed and managed. It is substantiated that each insurance company aims to form an efficient and

  8. Unemployment Insurance Query (UIQ)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Social Security Administration — The Unemployment Insurance Query (UIQ) provides State Unemployment Insurance agencies real-time online access to SSA data. This includes SSN verification and Title...

  9. An investigation into onshore captive insurance companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ME Le Roux

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Insurance provided by captive insurers is one of various forms of risk financing.  The nature and main types of captive insurance companies are discussed.  This is followed by the results of an empirical study that focused on South African onshore captive insurance companies.  The objectives in establishing and operating a captive insurer, the factors which determine the decision of the parent company to establish and operate a captive insurer and the future and usefulness of insurance provided by captive insurers are some of the aspects that are addressed.

  10. Suggestion of Islamic Insurance Company Model

    OpenAIRE

    Abdullah Ibrahim Nazal

    2015-01-01

    This study is one of very few studies which have investigated Islamic Insurance Companies as solution. It explained its operations also comparing with Traditional Insurance Companies and theoretical Islamic insurance models. As result to this study Islamic Insurance companies are profit organization. It helps Islamic banks but it costs customer to face expect risk. Islamic Insurance companies have many ways to get profits and consider all customers installments grants. Its operation gap comes...

  11. 24 CFR 266.612 - Insurance endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance endorsement. 266.612... Rights and Obligations Insurance Endorsement § 266.612 Insurance endorsement. (a) Initial endorsement. The Commissioner shall indicate his or her insurance of the mortgage by endorsing the original credit...

  12. Optimal non-linear health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blomqvist, A

    1997-06-01

    Most theoretical and empirical work on efficient health insurance has been based on models with linear insurance schedules (a constant co-insurance parameter). In this paper, dynamic optimization techniques are used to analyse the properties of optimal non-linear insurance schedules in a model similar to one originally considered by Spence and Zeckhauser (American Economic Review, 1971, 61, 380-387) and reminiscent of those that have been used in the literature on optimal income taxation. The results of a preliminary numerical example suggest that the welfare losses from the implicit subsidy to employer-financed health insurance under US tax law may be a good deal smaller than previously estimated using linear models.

  13. INSURANCE - A RISK COVERING STRATEGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marius Dan GAVRILETEA

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Insurance industry in Romania is facing for a few years a continuous decreasing in Gross Written Premium. The negative trend may be caused by the effects of financial crises for companies and also for individuals. In order to keep theirs market share, insurance companies must identify new opportunities to increase theirs’ GWP. Among these new market niches hospitality industry may represent an option to be followed. In this paper, we will analyze the types of insurance policies available for hospitality industry (except mandatory motors’ third party liability and motors’ own vehicle insurance. The conclusion represents solution both for insurance companies and for hotel as a part of theirs’ risk financing process.

  14. Early diffusion of gene expression profiling in breast cancer patients associated with areas of high income inequality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponce, Ninez A; Ko, Michelle; Liang, Su-Ying; Armstrong, Joanne; Toscano, Michele; Chanfreau-Coffinier, Catherine; Haas, Jennifer S

    2015-04-01

    With the Affordable Care Act reducing coverage disparities, social factors could prominently determine where and for whom innovations first diffuse in health care markets. Gene expression profiling is a potentially cost-effective innovation that guides chemotherapy decisions in early-stage breast cancer, but adoption has been uneven across the United States. Using a sample of commercially insured women, we evaluated whether income inequality in metropolitan areas was associated with receipt of gene expression profiling during its initial diffusion in 2006-07. In areas with high income inequality, gene expression profiling receipt was higher than elsewhere, but it was associated with a 10.6-percentage-point gap between high- and low-income women. In areas with low rates of income inequality, gene expression profiling receipt was lower, with no significant differences by income. Even among insured women, income inequality may indirectly shape diffusion of gene expression profiling, with benefits accruing to the highest-income patients in the most unequal places. Policies reducing gene expression profiling disparities should address low-inequality areas and, in unequal places, practice settings serving low-income patients. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  15. Effectiveness of insurance risk management under crisis conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I.G. Goncharenko

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available In the article some historical aspects of insurance, domestic trends in insurance risk management with aspects of international experience, the modern role of insurance and insurance companies in a market economy, factors of risk management system and the nature of the insurance portfolio are analyzed. Factors of risk events in insurance, the spectrum of risks, imbalance of the insurance market in crisis conditions are outlined; expert’s estimations of the insurance market in recent years are examined. Problems of insurance business perform are determined, especially insurance risk management. The ability to use the provisions of European insurance regulation on internal domestic insurance market is analyzed, and also the aspects of integration of Ukrainian insurance market are determined.

  16. Health Insurance: Understanding Your Health Plan's Rules

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... to know what your insurance company is paying…Health Insurance: Understanding What It CoversRead Article >>Insurance & BillsHealth Insurance: Understanding What It CoversYour insurance policy lists a package of medical benefits such as tests, drugs, and treatment services. These ...

  17. 7 CFR 3560.105 - Insurance and taxes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ...) Windstorm Coverage. (ii) Earthquake Coverage. (iii) Sinkhole Insurance or Mine Subsidence Insurance. (3) For... the coverage amount. (v) Sinkhole Insurance or Mine Subsidence Insurance. The deductible for sinkhole.... (10) Deductible amounts (excluding flood, windstorm, earthquake and sinkhole insurance or mine...

  18. 24 CFR 220.804 - Insurance premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance premiums. 220.804 Section... and Obligations-Projects Insured Project Improvement Loans § 220.804 Insurance premiums. (a) First premium. The lender, upon the initial endorsement of the loan for insurance, shall pay to the Commissioner...

  19. 76 FR 77455 - Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance-Slayer's Rule Exclusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-13

    ... and Veterans' Group Life Insurance--Slayer's Rule Exclusion AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs... Veterans' Group Life Insurance--Slayer's Rule Exclusion.'' Copies of comments received will be available...) (slayer's rule ``is undoubtedly an implicit provision of the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance Act of 1965...

  20. Communications Centre Model in Insurance Business

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danijel Bara

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to define a communications centre model in an insurance company that essentially has two objectives. The first objective is focused on providing quality support with the sales process thereby creating a strategic advantage over the competition while the second objective is focused on improving the link between internal organizational units whose behaviour can often render decision-making at all levels difficult. The function of sales is fundamental for an insurance company. Whether an insurance company will fulfil its basic function, which is transfer of risk from the insured party to the insurer who agrees tonreimburse incidental damages to the damaged party and distribute them among all members of the risk group on the principles of reciprocity and solidarity, depends on successful sales and billing (Andrijašević & Petranović, 1999. For an insurance company to operate successfully in a demanding market, it is necessary to meet the needs of potential clients who then must be at the centre of all the activities of the insurer. A satisfied policy holder, who is respected by the insurer as a partner, is a guarantee that the sales of insurance services will be successful and that the insured party will come back to the same insurance company. In the era of globalization and all-pervading new technologies and modes of communication, policy holders need to be able to communicate with insurance company employees. Quality communication is a good foundation for a sales conversation. A fast flow of all types of information within an organisation using a single communication module makes decision-making at all levels quicker and easier.

  1. You can't buy insurance when the house is on fire. Community rating kills health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartnedy, J A

    1994-05-15

    Why does health insurance cost so much? According to the vice president at the insurance company that pioneered high-deductible health insurance to go with medical savings accounts, a big factor is that insurance companies are being asked to solve social problems. Mr Hartnedy offers a solution to America's healthcare-delivery plight that includes empowerment of individuals and preservation of choice.

  2. 77 FR 72721 - Fees on Health Insurance Policies and Self-Insured Plans for the Patient-Centered Outcomes...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-06

    ... 1545-BK59 Fees on Health Insurance Policies and Self-Insured Plans for the Patient-Centered Outcomes... Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on issuers of certain health insurance policies and plan... arrangements) or Rebecca L. Baxter at (202) 622-3970 (regarding health insurance policies). SUPPLEMENTARY...

  3. 78 FR 12623 - Insurer Reporting Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-25

    ... NHTSA's regulation requiring motor vehicle insurers to submit information on the number of thefts and recoveries of insured vehicles and actions taken by the insurer to deter or reduce motor vehicle theft. NHTSA..., which requires insurers to submit information about the make, model, and year of all vehicle thefts, the...

  4. Insurance industry guide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    This is an insurance industry guide for the independent power industry. The directory includes the insurance company's name, address, telephone and FAX numbers and a description of the company's area of expertise, products and services, and limitations. The directory is international in scope. Some of the companies specialize in independent power projects

  5. 46 CFR 308.300 - Insured amount-application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK INSURANCE Second Seamen's War Risk Insurance § 308.300 Insured amount—application. An applicant for Second Seamen's war risk insurance shall not state the amount of insurance desired, which shall be as provided in...

  6. 26 CFR 1.831-3 - Tax on insurance companies (other than life or mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... mutual), mutual marine insurance companies, mutual fire insurance companies issuing perpetual policies, and mutual fire or flood insurance companies operating on the basis of premium deposits; taxable years... fire insurance companies issuing perpetual policies, and mutual fire or flood insurance companies...

  7. Pricing unit-linked insurance with guaranteed benefit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iqbal, M.; Novkaniza, F.; Novita, M.

    2017-07-01

    Unit-linked insurance is an investment-linked insurance, that is, the given benefit is the premium investment out-come. Recently, the most widely marketed insurance in the industry is unit-linked insurance with guaranteed benefit. With guaranteed benefit applied, the insurance benefits form is similar to the payoff form of European call option. Thereby, pricing European call option is involved in pricing unit-linked insurance with guaranteed benefit. The dynamics of investment outcome is assumed to follow stochastic interest rate. Hence, change of measure methods is used in pricing unit-linked insurance. The discount factor with stochastic interest rate needs to be modified as well to be zero coupon bond price. Eventually, the insurance premium is calculated by equivalence principle with guaranteed benefit and insurance period explicitly given.

  8. 77 FR 47573 - Fees on Health Insurance Policies and Self-Insured Plans for the Patient-Centered Outcomes...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-09

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Internal Revenue Service 26 CFR Parts 40 and 46 [REG-136008-11] RIN 1545-BK59 Fees on Health Insurance Policies and Self-Insured Plans for the Patient-Centered Outcomes... on issuers of certain health insurance policies and plan sponsors of certain self-insured health...

  9. 7 CFR 1427.166 - Insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Insurance. 1427.166 Section 1427.166 Agriculture... AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS COTTON Recourse Seed Cotton Loans § 1427.166 Insurance. The seed cotton must be insured at the full loan value against loss or damage by fire. ...

  10. 24 CFR 207.259 - Insurance benefits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance benefits. 207.259 Section... Contract of Insurance § 207.259 Insurance benefits. (a) Method of payment. Upon either an assignment of the... of mortgage. If the mortgage is assigned to the Commissioner, the insurance benefits shall be paid in...

  11. 34 CFR 682.505 - Insurance premium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Insurance premium. 682.505 Section 682.505 Education... § 682.505 Insurance premium. (a) General. The Secretary charges the lender an insurance premium for each Federal GSL Program loan that is guaranteed, except that no insurance premium is charged on a Federal...

  12. Functional diversity and redundancy across fish gut, sediment and water bacterial communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Escalas, Arthur; Troussellier, Marc; Yuan, Tong; Bouvier, Thierry; Bouvier, Corinne; Mouchet, Maud A; Flores Hernandez, Domingo; Ramos Miranda, Julia; Zhou, Jizhong; Mouillot, David

    2017-08-01

    This article explores the functional diversity and redundancy in a bacterial metacommunity constituted of three habitats (sediment, water column and fish gut) in a coastal lagoon under anthropogenic pressure. Comprehensive functional gene arrays covering a wide range of ecological processes and stress resistance genes to estimate the functional potential of bacterial communities were used. Then, diversity partitioning was used to characterize functional diversity and redundancy within (α), between (β) and across (γ) habitats. It was showed that all local communities exhibit a highly diversified potential for the realization of key ecological processes and resistance to various environmental conditions, supporting the growing evidence that macro-organisms microbiomes harbour a high functional potential and are integral components of functional gene dynamics in aquatic bacterial metacommunities. Several levels of functional redundancy at different scales of the bacterial metacommunity were observed (within local communities, within habitats and at the metacommunity level). The results suggested a high potential for the realization of spatial ecological insurance within this ecosystem, that is, the functional compensation among microorganisms for the realization and maintenance of key ecological processes, within and across habitats. Finally, the role of macro-organisms as dispersal vectors of microbes and their potential influence on marine metacommunity dynamics were discussed. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. HIAA's The Business of Insurance: An Introduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosen, Anita; Lynch, Margaret E.

    This booklet is intended to help students gain a broad understanding of the meaning, characteristics, organization, products, and functions of the insurance industry. The following topics are discussed: the concept of and need for insurance; basic principles of insurance (risk assessment, insurability and insurable interest, determination of…

  14. Directions of improving information system of insurance company

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaigorodova, G. N.; Mustafina, A. A.; Alyakina, D. P.

    2018-05-01

    The article presents a study of the information technologies impact on the insurance industry development. At present, any business, especially business in the field of financial intermediation, can count on maintaining its positions only as a technology company. For the insurance business it is now especially important. Other segments of the financial market - the stock and credit market - are actively developing and applying IT-technologies. The insurance business at present is getting opportunities for a technological breakthrough. There is a growing demand for traditional insurance products - property insurance, motor insurance, health insurance. There is a rapidly growing demand for life insurance and insurance against cyber risks. To implement insurance protection in new conditions, the insurance company should actively use information systems. The article presents a possible variant of systematization of the insurer's business processes within the information system of the insurance company.

  15. 26 CFR 1.821-4 - Tax on mutual insurance companies other than life insurance companies and other than fire, flood...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... life insurance companies and other than fire, flood, or marine insurance companies, subject to tax... Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which... other than life insurance companies and other than fire, flood, or marine insurance companies, subject...

  16. 12 CFR 741.208 - Mergers of federally insured credit unions: voluntary termination or conversion of insured status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Mergers of federally insured credit unions... Insured State-Chartered Credit Unions § 741.208 Mergers of federally insured credit unions: voluntary... 708a and 708b of this chapter concerning mergers and voluntary termination or conversion of insured...

  17. 24 CFR 241.805 - Insurance premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance premiums. 241.805 Section... Without a HUD-Insured or HUD-Held Mortgage Premiums § 241.805 Insurance premiums. (a) First premium. The... insurance premium equal to one percent of the original face amount of the note. (b) Second premium. The...

  18. The Nuclear Insurance Pools: Operations and Covers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tetley, M.

    2008-01-01

    Nuclear insurance pools have provided insurance for the nuclear industry for over fifty years and it is fair to say that the development of civil nuclear power would not have been possible without the support of the commercial insurance market. The unknown risks presented by the nascent nuclear power industry in the 1950s required a leap of faith by insurers who developed specialist pooled insurance capacity to ensure adequate capacity to back up the operators' compensation obligations. Since then, nuclear insurance pools have evolved to become comprehensive suppliers of most types of insurance for nuclear plant globally. This paper will outline the structure, development, products and current operations of nuclear insurance pools.(author)

  19. Macroprudential Insurance Regulation: A Swiss Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Philippe Deprez; Mario V. Wüthrich

    2016-01-01

    This article provides a case study that analyzes national macroprudential insurance regulation in Switzerland. We consider an insurance market that is based on data from the Swiss private insurance industry. We stress this market with several scenarios related to financial and insurance risks, and we analyze the resulting risk capitals of the insurance companies. This stress-test analysis provides insights into the vulnerability of the Swiss private insurance sector to different risks and sho...

  20. Macroprudential Insurance Regulation: A Swiss Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Deprez

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article provides a case study that analyzes national macroprudential insurance regulation in Switzerland. We consider an insurance market that is based on data from the Swiss private insurance industry. We stress this market with several scenarios related to financial and insurance risks, and we analyze the resulting risk capitals of the insurance companies. This stress-test analysis provides insights into the vulnerability of the Swiss private insurance sector to different risks and shocks.

  1. Health Insurance for Cancer Care in Asia: Thailand

    OpenAIRE

    Pongpak Pittayapan

    2016-01-01

    Thailand has a universal multi-payer system with two main types of health insurance: National Health Security Office or public health insurance and private insurance. National health insurance is designed for people who are not eligible to be members of any employment-based health insurance program. Although private health insurance is also available, all Thai citizens are required to be enrolled in either national health insurance or employees? health insurance. There are many differences be...

  2. Effect of Electron-Beam Irradiation on Bacterial Cellulose Membranes Used as Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoica-Guzun, A.

    2006-01-01

    Multiple methods are used to modify material surfaces. Radiation is an effective tool for polymer surfaces modification in order to obtain transdermal systems with different controlled release properties. Bacterial cellulose is a promising biomaterial synthesized by Acetobacter xylinum. It has a distinctive ultrafine reticulated structure that may become a perfect matrix as an optimal wound healing environment. In this work, high energy irradiation (γ rays from 137 C s) was applied to modify bacterial cellulose membranes. The effect of varying irradiation doses on membranes permeability was studied. Tetracycline was involved in the study of diffusivity as model drug. Release and permeation of drug from irradiated and non-irradiated membranes were done using a diffusion cell. The membrane permeability was determined using a psudo-steady state analysis based on Fick's law

  3. Understanding health insurance plans

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000879.htm Understanding health insurance plans To use the sharing features on this ... plan for you and your family. Types of Health Insurance Plans Depending on how you get your health ...

  4. 42 CFR 60.14 - The insurance premium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false The insurance premium. 60.14 Section 60.14 Public... LOAN PROGRAM The Loan § 60.14 The insurance premium. (a) General. (1) The Secretary insures each lender... lender an insurance premium. The insurance premium is due to the Secretary on the date of disbursement of...

  5. Modeling Cycle Dependence in Credit Insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anisa Caja

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Business and credit cycles have an impact on credit insurance, as they do on other businesses. Nevertheless, in credit insurance, the impact of the systemic risk is even more important and can lead to major losses during a crisis. Because of this, the insurer surveils and manages policies almost continuously. The management actions it takes limit the consequences of a downturning cycle. However, the traditional modeling of economic capital does not take into account this important feature of credit insurance. This paper proposes a model aiming to estimate future losses of a credit insurance portfolio, while taking into account the insurer’s management actions. The model considers the capacity of the credit insurer to take on less risk in the case of a cycle downturn, but also the inverse, in the case of a cycle upturn; so, losses are predicted with a more dynamic perspective. According to our results, the economic capital is over-estimated when not considering the management actions of the insurer.

  6. Nuclear insurance and third-party liability. An overview

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rashid, Nahrul Khair

    1986-04-01

    As for any other insurance policy, nuclear insurance involves two parties, the insurer and the insured. The coverage provided for can be against any misfortune or peril; material or physical losses, financial losses, third party liability or even the insured himself as in the case of life or personal insurance. In property and liability insurance, the element of certainty does not exist. Accidents cannot be predicted, the insured will only be able to financially recover the present worth of the property insured as evaluated at the time of the accident and to the extent of the damage arising from the event insured against, which in most cases will be lower than the full value of the property.

  7. STATE REGULATION OF INVESTMENT INSURANCE COMPANIES IN UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    О. Zaletov

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In the article the essence of investment insurance company. The role and importance of investment of insurance companies on formation of investment resources in the economy. The essence of the definition of "investment potential of insurance companies" and its relationship with the definition of "financial strength of insurance companies' insurance and potential insurance companies." By analyzing the structure and dynamics of aggregate investment portfolio of insurance organizations of Ukraine in 2008-2015 years defined contribution insurance sector in the formation of investment resources. The problems and prospects of the investment potential of the insurance market of Ukraine. Directions of improvement of state regulation of investment of insurance companies in Ukraine.

  8. 7 CFR 3019.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required by the terms and conditions of the... Standards § 3019.31 Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum, provide the equivalent insurance...

  9. 29 CFR 95.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required by the terms and conditions of the... § 95.31 Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum, provide the equivalent insurance coverage...

  10. Survey of social health insurance structure in selected countries; providing framework for basic health insurance in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammadi, Effat; Raissi, Ahmad Reza; Barooni, Mohsen; Ferdoosi, Massoud; Nuhi, Mojtaba

    2014-01-01

    Health system reforms are the most strategic issue that has been seriously considered in healthcare systems in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency and effectiveness. The costs of health system finance in our country, lack of universal coverage in health insurance, and related issues necessitate reforms in our health system financing. The aim of this research was to prepare a structure of framework for social health insurance in Iran and conducting a comparative study in selected countries with social health insurance. This comparative descriptive study was conducted in three phases. The first phase of the study examined the structure of health social insurance in four countries - Germany, South Korea, Egypt, and Australia. The second phase was to develop an initial model, which was designed to determine the shared and distinguishing points of the investigated structures, for health insurance in Iran. The third phase was to validate the final research model. The developed model by the Delphi method was given to 20 professionals in financing of the health system, health economics and management of healthcare services. Their comments were collected in two stages and its validity was confirmed. The study of the structure of health insurance in the selected countries shows that health social insurance in different countries have different structures. Based on the findings of the present study, the current situation of the health system, and the conducted surveys, the following framework is suitable for the health social insurance system in Iran. The Health Social Insurance Organization has a unique service by having five funds of governmental employees, companies and NGOs, self-insured, villagers, and others, which serves as a nongovernmental organization under the supervision of public law and by decision- and policy-making of the Health Insurance Supreme Council. Membership in this organization is based on the nationality or residence, which the insured by

  11. The economics of health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jha, Saurabh; Baker, Tom

    2012-12-01

    Insurance plays an important role in the United States, most importantly in but not limited to medical care. The authors introduce basic economic concepts that make medical care and health insurance different from other goods and services traded in the market. They emphasize that competitive pricing in the marketplace for insurance leads, quite rationally, to risk classification, market segmentation, and market failure. The article serves as a springboard for understanding the basis of the reforms that regulate the health insurance market in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Copyright © 2012 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. State insurance exchanges face challenges in offering standardized choices alongside innovative value-based insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corlette, Sabrina; Downs, David; Monahan, Christine H; Yondorf, Barbara

    2013-02-01

    Value-based insurance is a relatively new approach to health insurance in which financial barriers, such as copayments, are lowered for clinical services that are considered high value, while consumer cost sharing may be increased for services considered to be of uncertain value. Such plans are complex and do not easily fit into the simplified, consumer-friendly comparison tools that many state health insurance exchanges are formulating for use in 2014. Nevertheless some states and plans are attempting to strike the right balance between a streamlined health exchange shopping experience and innovative, albeit complex, benefit design that promotes value. For example, agencies administering exchanges in Vermont and Oregon are contemplating offering value-based insurance plans as an option in addition to a set of standardized plans. In the postreform environment, policy makers must find ways to present complex value-based insurance plans in a way that consumers and employers can more readily understand.

  13. Green commercial building insurance in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yu Xin Ou; Chew, Boon Cheong; Loo, Heoy Shin; Tan, Lay Hong

    2017-03-01

    Green building construction is growing tremendously globally even in Malaysia. Currently, there are approximate 636 buildings have registered and to be certified with Green Building Index. Among these buildings, 45 buildings have already fulfilled the requirements and fully certified. The other buildings still under provisional certification stage. Malaysia had adopted Green Building Index in 2009 to support a move to promote green building concept. Malaysia starts to move towards green building because Malaysian construction and building industry realizes that both energy consumed and waste produced are reduced without irreversible impacts to ecosystems. Consequently, insurance companies such as Fireman's Fund from America has started the green building insurance policies for their green building in the year of 2006, while Malaysia still remain the coverage for green buildings using conventional property insurance. There are lacks of efforts to be seen from insurance companies to propose green building insurance for these green buildings. There are a few factors which can take into consideration for insurance companies to start the very first green building insurance in Malaysia. Although there are challenges, some efficient strategies have been identified to overcome the problems. The methods used in this research topic is qualitative research. The results obtained shows that green commercial building insurance has a huge business opportunity in Malaysia because the number of green commercial buildings are increasing tremendously in Malaysia. It is a favor to implement green building insurance in Malaysia. Furthermore, insurance companies can consider to add in extra coverage in standard building policy to provide extra protection for non-certified green buildings which have the intention to rebuilt in green when damage happens. Generally, it is very important to introduce green commercial buildings insurance into Malaysia so that all of the green commercial

  14. Perceived Relationships among Components of Insurance Service for Users of Complementary Health Insurance Service

    OpenAIRE

    Urban Sebjan

    2013-01-01

    This article explores the relationship between the components of the services provided by complementary voluntary health insurance (CVHI), to which users ascribe different levels of importance. Research model that consists of four constructs (importance of quality service, additional coverage, price discounts of CVHI and insurance company reputation) and an indicator of the importance of insurance premium of CVHI was tested with structural equation modelling (SEM) on the sample of 300 Sloveni...

  15. Features of insurance evolution in the Internet expansion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.Yu. Polchanov

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The article investigates the features of the development of insurance in the Internet expansion. Increasing the number of mobile subscribers, Internet users and social networking, as well as owners of smartphones changes the decision-making process on insurance, marketing of insurance services, the mechanism of interaction between participants of insurance relations. As a result, insurance companies and intermediaries should adjust strategies and innovate to maintain their competitive advantage. The research examined the functioning of the foreign experience of P2P insurance (for example «Friendsurance», microinsurance using mobile payment instruments (for example «Kilimo Salama», cyber-risks insurance (for example «AIG», and the possibility of using digital currencies in insurance in particular Bitcoin. According to the results of investigation the question asked to clarify a number of basic insurance terms, including money payment, the order of payment of insurance premiums, the insurance event and risk, the insurance intermediary.

  16. Inflation Insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Zvi Bodie

    1989-01-01

    A contract to insure $1 against inflation is equivalent to a European call option on the consumer price index. When there is no deductible this call option is equivalent to a forward contract on the CPI. Its price is the difference between the prices of a zero coupon real bond and a zero coupon nominal bond, both free of default risk. Provided that the risk-free real rate of interest is positive, the price of such an inflation insurance policy first rises and then falls with time to maturity....

  17. Deductibles in health insurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimitriyadis, I.; Öney, Ü. N.

    2009-11-01

    This study is an extension to a simulation study that has been developed to determine ruin probabilities in health insurance. The study concentrates on inpatient and outpatient benefits for customers of varying age bands. Loss distributions are modelled through the Allianz tool pack for different classes of insureds. Premiums at different levels of deductibles are derived in the simulation and ruin probabilities are computed assuming a linear loading on the premium. The increase in the probability of ruin at high levels of the deductible clearly shows the insufficiency of proportional loading in deductible premiums. The PH-transform pricing rule developed by Wang is analyzed as an alternative pricing rule. A simple case, where an insured is assumed to be an exponential utility decision maker while the insurer's pricing rule is a PH-transform is also treated.

  18. Health Insurance and Risk of Divorce: Does Having Your Own Insurance Matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sohn, Heeju

    2016-01-01

    Most American adults under 65 obtain health insurance through their employers or their spouses’ employers. The absence of a universal healthcare system in the United States puts Americans at considerable risk for losing their coverage when transitioning out of jobs or marriages. Scholars have found evidence of reduced job mobility among individuals who are dependent on their employers for healthcare coverage. This paper finds similar relationships between insurance and divorce. I apply the hazard model to married individuals in the longitudinal Survey of Income Program Participation (N=17,388) and find lower divorce rates among people who are insured through their partners’ plans without alternative sources of their own. Furthermore, I find gender differences in the relationship between healthcare coverage and divorce rates: insurance dependent women have lower rates of divorce than men in similar situations. These findings draw attention to the importance of considering family processes when debating and evaluating health policies. PMID:26949269

  19. The actin homologue MreB organizes the bacterial cell membrane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strahl, Henrik; Bürmann, Frank; Hamoen, Leendert W

    2014-03-07

    The eukaryotic cortical actin cytoskeleton creates specific lipid domains, including lipid rafts, which determine the distribution of many membrane proteins. Here we show that the bacterial actin homologue MreB displays a comparable activity. MreB forms membrane-associated filaments that coordinate bacterial cell wall synthesis. We noticed that the MreB cytoskeleton influences fluorescent staining of the cytoplasmic membrane. Detailed analyses combining an array of mutants, using specific lipid staining techniques and spectroscopic methods, revealed that MreB filaments create specific membrane regions with increased fluidity (RIFs). Interference with these fluid lipid domains (RIFs) perturbs overall lipid homeostasis and affects membrane protein localization. The influence of MreB on membrane organization and fluidity may explain why the active movement of MreB stimulates membrane protein diffusion. These novel MreB activities add additional complexity to bacterial cell membrane organization and have implications for many membrane-associated processes.

  20. Private health insurance: implications for developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekhri, Neelam; Savedoff, William

    2005-02-01

    Private health insurance is playing an increasing role in both high- and low-income countries, yet is poorly understood by researchers and policy-makers. This paper shows that the distinction between private and public health insurance is often exaggerated since well regulated private insurance markets share many features with public insurance systems. It notes that private health insurance preceded many modern social insurance systems in western Europe, allowing these countries to develop the mechanisms, institutions and capacities that subsequently made it possible to provide universal access to health care. We also review international experiences with private insurance, demonstrating that its role is not restricted to any particular region or level of national income. The seven countries that finance more than 20% of their health care via private health insurance are Brazil, Chile, Namibia, South Africa, the United States, Uruguay and Zimbabwe. In each case, private health insurance provides primary financial protection for workers and their families while public health-care funds are targeted to programmes covering poor and vulnerable populations. We make recommendations for policy in developing countries, arguing that private health insurance cannot be ignored. Instead, it can be harnessed to serve the public interest if governments implement effective regulations and focus public funds on programmes for those who are poor and vulnerable. It can also be used as a transitional form of health insurance to develop experience with insurance institutions while the public sector increases its own capacity to manage and finance health-care coverage.

  1. Risk segmentation in Chilean social health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hidalgo, Hector; Chipulu, Maxwell; Ojiako, Udechukwu

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this study is to identify how risk and social variables are likely to be impacted by an increase in private sector participation in health insurance provision. The study focuses on the Chilean health insurance industry, traditionally dominated by the public sector. Predictive risk modelling is conducted using a database containing over 250,000 health insurance policy records provided by the Superintendence of Health of Chile. Although perceived with suspicion in some circles, risk segmentation serves as a rational approach to risk management from a resource perspective. The variables that have considerable impact on insurance claims include the number of dependents, gender, wages and the duration a claimant has been a customer. As shown in the case study, to ensure that social benefits are realised, increased private sector participation in health insurance must be augmented by regulatory oversight and vigilance. As it is clear that a "community-rated" health insurance provision philosophy impacts on insurance firm's ability to charge "market" prices for insurance provision, the authors explore whether risk segmentation is a feasible means of predicting insurance claim behaviour in Chile's private health insurance industry.

  2. Insurance - Piper Alpha ''et al''

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hales, K.

    1995-01-01

    This paper opens with some brief information about the Piper Alpha loss, how the loss was handled and its final cost. More importantly, it discusses the effect of the Piper Alpha loss on the world insurance market including the oil insurance captives such as O.I.L Limited. Finally, the insurance market current status and prognosis for the future are considered. (Author)

  3. Modelling in life insurance a management perspective

    CERN Document Server

    Norberg, Ragnar; Planchet, Frédéric

    2016-01-01

    Focussing on life insurance and pensions, this book addresses various aspects of modelling in modern insurance: insurance liabilities; asset-liability management; securitization, hedging, and investment strategies. With contributions from internationally renowned academics in actuarial science, finance, and management science and key people in major life insurance and reinsurance companies, there is expert coverage of a wide range of topics, for example: models in life insurance and their roles in decision making; an account of the contemporary history of insurance and life insurance mathematics; choice, calibration, and evaluation of models; documentation and quality checks of data; new insurance regulations and accounting rules; cash flow projection models; economic scenario generators; model uncertainty and model risk; model-based decision-making at line management level; models and behaviour of stakeholders. With author profiles ranging from highly specialized model builders to decision makers at chief ex...

  4. The Problem of Multiplicity of Insurance Contracts from the Fire to the Money of the Insured in the Jordanian Civil Law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. Nabeel Farhan Al Shatanawi

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The insured, in some cases the conclusion of more than a decade of insurance against risk of fire to more than insurance companies, so as to increase the total amount of insurance cover for the value of the money of the insured, what is the extent of commitment by all insurance companies to pay compensation when the risk of fire? This study sheds light on the position of the Jordanian legislature to demonstrate the shortcomings and imperfections in the drawback of legislative texts the issue of multiple insurance contracts from the fire, and realized the need to restore the Jordanian legislature consideration of this legislative regulation in terms of the need to distinguish between the insurer and the good faith and bad faith in the case of multiple insurance contracts and their impact on the right to obtain compensation when the danger, and the provisions of the commitment of the insured to notify the insurance company in multiple insurance contracts.

  5. FEATURES OF PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE REALIZATION IN UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    О. Lobova

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The signs of professional liability insurance are generalized in the article. It is the presence of losses, additional costs that require mechanisms and sources of compensation. The essence of the professional responsibility concept is determined and it is characterized like specialists material liability of different professions, lack of qualifications, errors and omissions are due to carelessness or negligence may cause harm to the client The main elements of the professional liability insurance contract, such as insurance objects, insurance compensation, insurance risks are described. The types of professional liability insurance are characterized. There are such types of the professional liability insurance: professional liability insurance of architect, lawyer, auditor (accountant, appraiser, notary, customs broker and doctor. It is determined, that the most widespread in Ukraine is the professional liability insurance of lawyer and customs broker because the policy is purchased for the sole purpose to obtain a license. The size of insurance rates in the provision of professional liability insurance in different insurance companies of Ukraine are analyzed. It is established that insurance rate depends on the type of professional activity, scope of service, qualifications and the other factors. The development impulse can only provide judicial and legal definition of professions wide list that are subject under mandatory professional liability insurance.

  6. Antagonistic Activities of Purple Non-sulfur Bacterial Extracts Against Antibiotic Resistant Vibrio sp.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chandrasekaran, R.

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Solvent extracts of native purple non-sulfur bacterial (PNSB isolates from the effluents of brackish shrimp culture ponds, near Nagapattinam coast (South India were evaluated for antibacterial activity by the disc diffusion method. Best results were shown by the chloroform extracts against oxytetracycline resistant Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio fischerii. Among the purple non-sulfur bacterial isolates, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, showed maximum antagonistic activity. The findings suggest that the antagonistic extracts from Rba. sphaeroides could be used as an effective antibiotic in controlling Vibrio spp., in aquaculture systems.

  7. Insurance. Part 3. Property, housing, and disaster insurance (a bibliography with abstracts). Report for 1964--Jun 1975

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Young, M.E.

    1975-08-01

    Several types of insurance are discussed in the three part bibliography. Part 3 includes citations on property and mortgage insurance, and insurance for such disasters as floods, fires, earthquakes, and nuclear accidents. (Contains 70 abstracts)

  8. Determinants of health insurance and hospitalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadashi Yamada

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Our paper empirically examines how the decision to purchase private insurance and hospitalization are made based on household income, socio-demographic factors, and private health insurance factors in both Japan and the USA. Using these two data-sets, we found some similarities and dissimilarities between Japan and the United States. As income of households rises, households have a positive effect on purchasing health insurance as a normal good. Another similarity between the two countries is seen in the income effect on risk of hospitalization, which is negative for both Japanese and US cases. For dissimilarity, the insurance premium effect on risk of hospitalization is positive for the Japanese case, while negative for the US case. Since the Japanese insurance data had variables such as payments per day of hospitalization if household gets hospitalized, insurance payments upon death of an insured person, and annuity payments at maturity, we tested to see if these characteristics affect the risk of hospitalization for households; we do not eliminate a possibility of adverse selection. For the US pure health issuance characteristics, an increase in premium of health insurance policies cause individuals to substitute more health capital investment which causes lower risk of hospitalization.

  9. Nuclear property insurance: status and outlook

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1982-05-01

    The report addresses the problem of the unavailability of adequate levels of property insurance for commercial power reactors to pay for decontamination and cleanup costs arising from accidents. The report is designed to answer six questions, as follows: (1) What has been the development of each principal source of nuclear property insurance used as of early 1982 by nuclear utilities in the United States; (2) What are some of the distinguishing features of nuclear property insurance as offered by the principal sources; (3) How much nuclear property insurance was offered by each of these sources as of January 1, 1982; (4) Assuming that present plans came to fruition, how much nuclear property insurance is likely to be offered by each of these sources as of January 1, 1983; (5) What, if any, principal sources of nuclear property insurance are likely to emerge in the private sector by January 1, 1983; (6) What problems serious enough to warrant action of the NRC exist with respect to nuclear property insurance and what action should NRC take in response to each problem

  10. 24 CFR 206.102 - General Insurance Fund.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Insurance Fund. [60 FR 42761, Aug. 16, 1995] Mortgage Insurance Premiums ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false General Insurance Fund. 206.102... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MORTGAGE AND LOAN INSURANCE PROGRAMS UNDER NATIONAL HOUSING ACT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES...

  11. HEALTH INSURANCE

    CERN Multimedia

    2000-01-01

    The CERN-AUSTRIA Agreement, which implemented CERN's health insurance scheme, expired on 31 December 1999.In accordance with CERN's rules, a call for tenders for the management of the health insurance scheme was issued and the contract was once again awarded to AUSTRIA. In June 1999, the Finance Committee thus authorised the Management to conclude a new contract with AUSTRIA, which came into force on 1st January 2000.Continuity is thus assured on favourable conditions and the transition from one contract to the other will entail no substantial changes in the system for those insured at CERN except for a few minor and purely formal amendmentsWHAT REMAINS UNCHANGEDThe list of benefits, i.e. the 'cover' provided by the system, is not changed;Neither is the reimbursement procedure.AUSTRIA's office at CERN and its opening hours as well as its city headquarters remain the same. The envelopes containing requests for reimbursement have had to be sent (since the end of 1998) to :Rue des Eaux-Vives 94Case postale 64021...

  12. The Role of Nuclear Insurance Pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reitsma, S. M. S.

    2006-01-01

    Since fifty years insurers respond to the need of both governments and the electricity industry to provide financial protection to cover the perils presented by the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This paper aims at explaining what difficulties had to be solved in order to enable insurers to provide such protection, that as a solution to these difficulties Nuclear Insurance Pools were formed, how such pools operate and what security they provide. Thereby not only a number of universal principles underlying nuclear pool insurance will be explained, but also some differences in the characteristics of such insurance per group of countries. (author)

  13. 78 FR 71476 - Health Insurance Providers Fee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-29

    .... The final regulations clarify that these benefits constitute health insurance when they are offered by... insurance. Limited Scope Dental and Vision Benefits The proposed regulations defined health insurance to... revising the definition of health insurance to exclude limited scope dental and vision benefits (sometimes...

  14. 17 CFR 256.924 - Property insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... insurance premiums to protect the service company against losses and damages to owned or leased property... covered, and the applicable premiums. Any dividends distributed by mutual insurance companies shall be credited to the accounts to which the insurance premiums were charged. ...

  15. Health Insurance Literacy: How People Understand and Make Health Insurance Purchase Decisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vardell, Emily Johanna

    2017-01-01

    The concept of health insurance literacy, which can be defined as "the extent to which consumers can make informed purchase and use decisions" (Kim, Braun, & Williams, 2013, p. 3), has only recently become a focus of health literacy research. Though employees have been making health insurance decisions for many years, the Affordable…

  16. Entrepreneurial Moral Hazard in Income Insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ejrnaes, Mette; Hochguertel, Stefan

    2008-01-01

    We study risk behavior of Danish self-employed entrepreneurs, whose income risk may be driven by both exogenous factors and effort choice (moral hazard). Partial insurance is available through voluntary unemployment insurance (UI). Additional incentives to sign insurance contracts stem from a

  17. How to Shop for Health Insurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... health insurance kicks in. As a general rule, insurance plans with low premiums have high deductibles, and plans with high premiums ... other plans due to hardship. This type of insurance can have low premiums but very high deductibles. Plans generally cover less ...

  18. Insurance Cover for Revised Nuclear Liability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reitsma, S. M. S.

    2008-01-01

    The financial security to be provided to victims of an incident at a nuclear installation is the main objective of international nuclear liability conventions. As from the introduction of the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy in 1960 and the Vienna Convention on Liability for Nuclear Damage in 1963 insurers have been prepared to provide the financial capacity needed to cover the liability under both conventions. They did so in close co-operation with the competent national and international authorities, which has resulted in the insurability of as much of the nuclear liability under the conventions as possible. This tradition of co-operation between authorities and insurers was extended to include the revision negotiations regarding the above conventions, which were concluded in 1997 and 2004 respectively. This has resulted in the insurability of by far the largest part of the convention based liability. However, some heads of damage have been introduced about which insurers had expressed concerns as to their likelihood to attract insurance support. In view of the explicit choice by Convention States to include the uninsurable heads of damage into the revised conventions one would expect that liability for them would fall upon national Governments. This would reflect practice in a number of States, which already assume liability for uninsurable mandatory liabilities for a long time. Nonetheless some other States now seem reluctant to do so, the resulting deadlock having a tendency to manifest itself in a negative perception of the insurance industry. Insurers are therefore appreciative of the forum provided by the CNS to once again explain the areas where problems as regards insurability have arisen and why this is the case. This presentation will show that those areas are few in number and notably relate to a limited number of environmental damages as well as the extension of prescription periods. Furthermore, thoughts will

  19. Liability and Insurance for Suborbital Flights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masson-Zwaan, T.

    2012-01-01

    This paper analyzes and compares liability and liability insurance in the fields of aviation and spaceflight in order to propose solutions for a liability regime and insurance options for suborbital flights. Suborbital flights can be said to take place in the grey zone between air and space, between air law and space law, as well as between aviation insurance and space insurance. In terms of liability, the paper discusses air law and space law provisions in the fields of second and third party liability for damage to passengers and 'innocent bystanders' respectively, touching upon international treaties, national law and EU law, and on insurance to cover those risks. Although the insurance market is currently not ready to provide tailor-made products for operators of suborbital flights, it is expected to adapt rapidly once such flights will become reality. A hybrid approach will provide the best solution in the medium term.

  20. Determinants of Health Insurance Coverage among People Aged 45 and over in China: Who Buys Public, Private and Multiple Insurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Yinzi; Hou, Zhiyuan; Zhang, Donglan

    2016-01-01

    Background China is reforming and restructuring its health insurance system to achieve the goal of universal coverage. This study aims to understand the determinants of public, private and multiple insurance coverage among people of retirement-age in China. Methods We used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey 2011 and 2013, a nationally representative survey of Chinese people aged 45 and over. Multinomial logit regression was performed to identify the determinants of public, private and multiple health insurance coverage. We also conducted logit regression to examine the association between public insurance coverage and demand for private insurance. Results In 2013, 94.5% of this population had at least one type of public insurance, and 12.2% purchased private insurance. In general, we found that rural residents were less likely to be uninsured (Relative Risk Ratio (RRR) = 0.40, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.34–0.47) and were less likely to buy private insurance (RRR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.16–0.31). But rural-to-urban migrants were more likely to be uninsured (RRR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.24–1.57). Public health insurance coverage may crowd out private insurance market (Odds Ratio = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.48–0.63), particularly among enrollees of Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance. There exists a huge socioeconomic disparity in both public and private insurance coverage. Conclusion The migrants, the poor and the vulnerable remained in the edge of the system. The growing private insurance market did not provide sufficient financial protection and did not cover the people with the greatest need. To achieve universal coverage and reduce socioeconomic disparity, China should integrate the urban and rural public insurance schemes across regions and remove the barriers for the middle-income and low-income to access private insurance. PMID:27564320

  1. ECONOMIC AND MANAGERIAL APPROACH OF HEALTH INSURANCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgeta Dragomir

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper represents an analysis in the domain of the social insurances for health care. It emphasizesthe necessity and the opportunity of creating in Romania a medical service market based on the competingsystem. In Romania, the social insurances for health care are at their very beginning. The development of thedomain of the private insurances for health care is prevented even by its legislation, due to the lack of anormative act that may regulate the management of the private insurances for health care. The establishment ofthe legislation related to the optional insurances for health care might lead to some activity norms for thecompanies which carry out optional insurances for health care. The change of the legislation is made in order tocreate normative and financial opportunities for the development of the optional medical insurances. Thischange, as part of the social protection of people, will positively influence the development of the medicalinsurance system. The extension of the segment of the optional insurances into the medical insurance segmentincreases the health protection budget with the value of the financial sources which do not belong to thebudgetary funds.

  2. Nuclear insurance problems in Spain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomez del Campo, Julian.

    1977-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to study the problems raised in Spain by third party liability insurance for nuclear damage. National law in this field is based on the Paris Convention on nuclear third party liability and defines the conditions of liability of operators of nuclear installations. The insurance contract requirements must comply with the regulations on cover for nuclear risks, under the control of the Finance Ministry's competent services. Certain exceptional nuclear risks which cannot be covered entirely by ordinary insurance policies, are taken over by the Consorcio de Compensacion de Seguros which belongs to this Ministry. From the insurance viewpoint, the regulations make a distinction between nuclear and radioactive installations and nuclear transport. (NEA) [fr

  3. INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN ERITREA - ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES

    OpenAIRE

    Rena, Ravinder

    2007-01-01

    The industrial revolution led to the birth of different types of insurance systems. Insurance business emerged and developed in Eritrea during the Italian period. The insurance industry in Eritrea has been huge profits from its inception in 1992. In spite of the consistent profits by the insurance, the Government privatised it recently due the policy and revenue requirements. An attempt is made in this paper to discuss the background of the insurance and it evolution and development. This pap...

  4. Insurance considerations associated with radiation processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boylan, F.X.

    1979-01-01

    Comments are made on nuclear insurance experience in the United States. The subject is discussed in more detail under the headings: direct physical damage insurance; workers' compensation insurance; third party liability (premises and operations considerations; products considerations); possible alternatives to the existing arrangement. (U.K.)

  5. 20 CFR 617.58 - Unemployment insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Unemployment insurance. 617.58 Section 617.58 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE... Unemployment insurance. Unemployment insurance payable to an adversely affected worker shall not be denied or...

  6. 48 CFR 47.102 - Transportation insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Transportation insurance... MANAGEMENT TRANSPORTATION General 47.102 Transportation insurance. (a) The Government generally (1) retains... assumed responsibility. The cost of this insurance to the carrier shall be part of the transportation cost...

  7. 24 CFR 200.100 - Insurance endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... a commitment for insured advances, initial endorsement of the credit instrument shall occur before... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance endorsement. 200.100... Endorsement Generally Applicable to Multifamily and Health Care Facility Mortgage Insurance Programs; and...

  8. Vaccines as Epidemic Insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pauly, Mark V

    2017-10-27

    This paper explores the relationship between the research for and development of vaccines against global pandemics and insurance. It shows that development in advance of pandemics of a portfolio of effective and government-approved vaccines does have some insurance properties: it requires incurring costs that are certain (the costs of discovering, developing, and testing vaccines) in return for protection against large losses (if a pandemic treatable with one of the vaccines occurs) but also with the possibility of no benefit (from a vaccine against a disease that never reaches the pandemic stage). It then argues that insurance against the latter event might usefully be offered to organizations developing vaccines, and explores the benefits of insurance payments to or on behalf of countries who suffer from unpredictable pandemics. These ideas are then related to recent government, industry, and philanthropic efforts to develop better policies to make vaccines against pandemics available on a timely basis.

  9. Vaccines as Epidemic Insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark V. Pauly

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the relationship between the research for and development of vaccines against global pandemics and insurance. It shows that development in advance of pandemics of a portfolio of effective and government-approved vaccines does have some insurance properties: it requires incurring costs that are certain (the costs of discovering, developing, and testing vaccines in return for protection against large losses (if a pandemic treatable with one of the vaccines occurs but also with the possibility of no benefit (from a vaccine against a disease that never reaches the pandemic stage. It then argues that insurance against the latter event might usefully be offered to organizations developing vaccines, and explores the benefits of insurance payments to or on behalf of countries who suffer from unpredictable pandemics. These ideas are then related to recent government, industry, and philanthropic efforts to develop better policies to make vaccines against pandemics available on a timely basis.

  10. Retroactive insurance may fund TMI-2 cleanup

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1981-01-01

    A Pennsylvania task force recommended that nuclear utilities insure their plants with a mandatory national property insurance program. The proposed Nuclear Powerplant Property Damage Insurance Act of 1981 will cover the cleanup costs of onsite damage in excess of $350 million for a single accident ($50 million when private insurance is added on) and a ceiling of two billion dollars. Participation in the insurance pool would be in conjunction with licensing and would permit no grandfathering. Total payout for Three Mile Island-2 would cover 75% of the cleanup costs, the remainder to be apportioned among other parties. The insurance pool will have a $750 million goal supported by utility premiums

  11. 7 CFR 764.108 - General insurance requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... covered by hazard insurance if it is readily available (sold by insurance agents in the applicant's normal... for the insurance indemnity payment or as a beneficiary in the mortgagee loss payable clause. (b) Real estate security located in flood or mudslide prone areas must be covered by flood or mudslide insurance...

  12. Knowledge and attitude towards dental insurance and utilization of dental services among insured and uninsured patients: A cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radhika Maniyar

    2018-01-01

    Conclusion: Knowledge regarding dental insurance was poor in both groups, while the insured group showed a more positive attitude toward benefits of dental insurance. Utilization of dental services was seen more among insured group.

  13. Nuclear power plant insurance - experience and loss statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feldmann, J.; Dangelmaier, P.

    1982-01-01

    Nuclear power plants are treated separately when concluding insurance contracts. National insurance pools have been established in industrial countries, co-operating on an international basis, for insuring a nuclear power plant. In combined property insurance, the nuclear risk is combined with the fire risk. In addition, there are the engineering insurances. Of these, the one of significance for nuclear power plants is the machinery insurance, which can be covered on the free insurance market. Nuclear power plants have had fewer instances of damage than other, conventional installations. (orig.) [de

  14. Public and private health insurance premiums: how do they affect the health insurance status of low-income childless adults?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guy, Gery P; Adams, E Kathleen; Atherly, Adam

    2012-01-01

    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will substantially increase public health insurance eligibility and alter the costs of insurance coverage. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data from the period 2000-2008, we examine the effects of public and private health insurance premiums on the insurance status of low-income childless adults, a population substantially affected by the ACA. Results show higher public premiums to be associated with a decrease in the probability of having public insurance and an increase in the probability of being uninsured, while increased private premiums decrease the probability of having private insurance. Eligibility for premium assistance programs and increased subsidy levels are associated with lower rates of uninsurance. The magnitudes of the effects are quite modest and provide important implications for insurance expansions for childless adults under the ACA.

  15. A computer investigation of chemically mediated detachment in bacterial biofilms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Stephen M; Hamilton, Martin A; Sears, John T; Harkin, Gary; Reno, Jason

    2003-05-01

    A three-dimensional computer model was used to evaluate the effect of chemically mediated detachment on biofilm development in a negligible-shear environment. The model, BacLAB, combines conventional diffusion-reaction equations for chemicals with a cellular automata algorithm to simulate bacterial growth, movement and detachment. BacLAB simulates the life cycle of a bacterial biofilm from its initial colonization of a surface to the development of a mature biofilm with cell areal densities comparable to those in the laboratory. A base model founded on well established transport equations that are easily adaptable to investigate conjectures at the biological level has been created. In this study, the conjecture of a detachment mechanism involving a bacterially produced chemical detachment factor in which high local concentrations of this detachment factor cause the bacteria to detach from the biofilm was examined. The results show that the often observed 'mushroom'-shaped structure can occur if detachment events create voids so that the remaining attached cells look like mushrooms.

  16. 24 CFR 241.1245 - Insurance endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance endorsement. 241.1245... Rights and Obligations § 241.1245 Insurance endorsement. (a) Endorsement. The Commissioner shall indicate his insurance of the equity loan or acquisition loan by endorsing the original credit instrument and...

  17. 2 CFR 215.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum, provide the equivalent insurance coverage for real property and equipment acquired with Federal funds as provided to property owned by the recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required by the terms and conditions of the award. ...

  18. 36 CFR 1210.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ....31 Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum, provide the equivalent insurance coverage for real property and equipment acquired with NHPRC funds as provided to property owned by the recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required by the terms and conditions of the award. ...

  19. 24 CFR 221.254 - Mortgage insurance premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mortgage insurance premiums. 221... Cost Homes § 221.254 Mortgage insurance premiums. (a) All of the provisions of §§ 203.260 through 203.295 of this chapter relating to mortgage insurance premiums shall apply to mortgages insured under...

  20. Health insurance--a challenge in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Presswala, R G

    2004-01-01

    In India, indemnity health insurance started about 3 decades ago. Mediclaim was the most popular product. Indian insurers and multinational companies have not been enthusiastic about starting health insurance in spite of the availability of a good market because health insurers have historically incurred losses. Losses have been caused by poor administration. Because it is a small portion of their total businesses, insurers have never tried sincerely to improve deficiencies or taken special interest. Hospital management and medical specialists have the spirit of entrepreneurship and are prepared to learn quickly and follow managed care principles, though they are not currently practiced in India. Actuarial data from the health insurance industry is sparse, but data from alternative sources will be helpful for starting managed healthcare. In my opinion, if properly administered, a "limited" managed care product with appropriate precautions and premium levels will be successful and profitable and will compete with present indemnity products in India.

  1. Can universal access be achieved in a voluntary private health insurance market? Dutch private insurers caught between competing logics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vonk, Robert A A; Schut, Frederik T

    2018-05-07

    For almost a century, the Netherlands was marked by a large market for voluntary private health insurance alongside state-regulated social health insurance. Throughout this period, private health insurers tried to safeguard their position within an expanding welfare state. From an institutional logics perspective, we analyze how private health insurers tried to reconcile the tension between a competitive insurance market pressuring for selective underwriting and actuarially fair premiums (the insurance logic), and an upcoming welfare state pressuring for universal access and socially fair premiums (the welfare state logic). Based on primary sources and the extant historiography, we distinguish six periods in which the balance between both logics changed significantly. We identify various strategies employed by private insurers to reconcile the competing logics. Some of these were temporarily successful, but required measures that were incompatible with the idea of free entrepreneurship and consumer choice. We conclude that universal access can only be achieved in a competitive individual private health insurance market if this market is effectively regulated and mandatory cross-subsidies are effectively enforced. The Dutch case demonstrates that achieving universal access in a competitive private health insurance market is institutionally complex and requires broad political and societal support.

  2. BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS IN INSURANCE MARKET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stroe Andreea

    2013-07-01

    In this paper there are showed and debated some situation in which psychological effects like loss aversion, reference point, status-quo and framming effects can influence the deccision of the consumer and are not consistent with the standard economic model.In addition to this aspects, Cumulative Prspect Theory enhance the fact that decision makers overestimate low peobabilities and underestimate high probabilities,thus buying inadequate insurance in many situation.in thiss sense, in order to support this idea I tried to make a qualitative presentation of the model used on the insurance market using Prelec function which is the function related with the Cumulative Prospect Theory which can be used in the insurance context.The weak points of the theory of expected utility are explained through this new perspectives and nevertheless aspects like insensivity to bad news concerning incomes,elasticity of price,displacements of status-quo and default,disposition effect and equity premium are taken into consideration.As example,I chose a Kunreuther experiment about insurance decision in with is underlyined the fact that for moderate risk people buy insurance with premiums that exceed the expected loss.There are demands for low deductibles in the the markets for extended guarantees and insurances for mobile phones where was observed that the insurance underwriting rate increases with the probability of loss keeping the expected loss constant.It is better to mention that the theory and the model that are presented here comes as complementary to the economic standard theory not as a substitute.

  3. The imagine of establishing China nuclear insurance model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Yimin

    2010-01-01

    Nuclear power Insurance is one important technique for risk managements of Nuclear power Enterprises. At present, nuclear risk of Nuclear power plants in China has been mainly supported by China Nuclear Insurance pool (hereinafter called CNP) to get coverage from International Nuclear Insurance pool (hereinafter called NIP). CNIP has several advantages to confirm low-cost. Operation, such as large underwriting capacity, international approval and cession, direct writing without agents. However, there are both deficiencies, first, can not get rid of dependence on International markets ; second, in the absence of competition in Self- insurance organizations , tough and opaque premium offer greatly restricted the enthusiasm for Nuclear power plants insuring .But the next ten year is a golden decade for China Nuclear industry development; Nuclear power market is demonstrating tremendous growth potential. With new units put into operation, all kinds of nuclear insurance demand will release when subject-matter insured substantially increase. So, breaking the current bottleneck of China Nuclear Insurance and establishing China Nuclear Insurance (hereinafter called: Nuclear insurance) model adapting to China national conditions will play an important role in Nuclear power development. I made the advice that both domestic nuclear enterprises and general insurance companies initiate a 'Nuclear insurance company'. (authors)

  4. Focal parenchymal lesions in community-acquired bacterial meningitis in adults: a clinico-radiological study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katchanov, Juri; Siebert, Eberhard; Klingebiel, Randolf; Endres, Matthias

    2009-01-01

    Here, we analyzed the frequency, morphological pattern, and imaging characteristics of focal lesions as a consequence of community-acquired bacterial meningitis. We hypothesized that diffusion-weighted imaging combined with contrast-enhanced imaging, serial scanning, and multimodal vascular studies would provide further insight into the pathological basis of such parenchymal lesions in bacterial meningitis. We reviewed clinical and imaging data (i.e., magnetic resonance tomography, magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomography angiography, digital subtraction angiography) of 68 adult patients admitted to our neurological intensive care unit between March 1998 and February 2009 with the diagnosis of community-acquired bacterial meningitis. We identified seven patients with parenchymal lesions. These lesions could be attributed to four morphological patterns: (1) territorial cerebral ischemia, (2) perforating vessels ischemia, (3) ischemia of presumed cardiac origin, and (4) isolated cortical lesions. Whereas the patterns (1) and (2) were associated with vasculopathy of large- and medium-sized vessels (as shown by cerebral vascular imaging), vessel imaging in (3) and (4) did not show abnormal findings. Our study implies that parenchymal lesions in acute bacterial meningitis are mainly ischemic and due to involvement of large-, medium-, and small-sized arteries of the brain. Diffusion-weighted imaging combined with conventional, CT-, or MR-based cerebral angiography revealed the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms in the majority of patients. Furthermore, we detected two patients with isolated bilateral cortical involvement and normal vessel imaging. These lesions might represent ischemia due to the involvement of small pial and intracortical arteries. (orig.)

  5. Focal parenchymal lesions in community-acquired bacterial meningitis in adults: a clinico-radiological study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Katchanov, Juri [Campus Charite Mitte, Charite, Department of Neurology, Berlin (Germany); University Hospital Charite, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Department of Neurology, Berlin (Germany); Siebert, Eberhard; Klingebiel, Randolf [Campus Charite Mitte, Charite, Department of Neuroradiology, Berlin (Germany); Endres, Matthias [Campus Charite Mitte, Charite, Department of Neurology, Berlin (Germany); Charite-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Center for Stroke Research Berlin, Berlin (Germany)

    2009-11-15

    Here, we analyzed the frequency, morphological pattern, and imaging characteristics of focal lesions as a consequence of community-acquired bacterial meningitis. We hypothesized that diffusion-weighted imaging combined with contrast-enhanced imaging, serial scanning, and multimodal vascular studies would provide further insight into the pathological basis of such parenchymal lesions in bacterial meningitis. We reviewed clinical and imaging data (i.e., magnetic resonance tomography, magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomography angiography, digital subtraction angiography) of 68 adult patients admitted to our neurological intensive care unit between March 1998 and February 2009 with the diagnosis of community-acquired bacterial meningitis. We identified seven patients with parenchymal lesions. These lesions could be attributed to four morphological patterns: (1) territorial cerebral ischemia, (2) perforating vessels ischemia, (3) ischemia of presumed cardiac origin, and (4) isolated cortical lesions. Whereas the patterns (1) and (2) were associated with vasculopathy of large- and medium-sized vessels (as shown by cerebral vascular imaging), vessel imaging in (3) and (4) did not show abnormal findings. Our study implies that parenchymal lesions in acute bacterial meningitis are mainly ischemic and due to involvement of large-, medium-, and small-sized arteries of the brain. Diffusion-weighted imaging combined with conventional, CT-, or MR-based cerebral angiography revealed the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms in the majority of patients. Furthermore, we detected two patients with isolated bilateral cortical involvement and normal vessel imaging. These lesions might represent ischemia due to the involvement of small pial and intracortical arteries. (orig.)

  6. 24 CFR 241.570 - Insurance endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance endorsement. 241.570... § 241.570 Insurance endorsement. (a) Initial endorsement. The Commissioner shall indicate his/her insurance of the mortgage by endorsing the original credit instrument and identifying the section of the Act...

  7. Statistical tools for non-life insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Antonio, K.

    2008-01-01

    Within the actuarial profession a major challenge can be found in the construction of a fair tariff structure. In light of the heterogeneity within, for instance, a car insurance portfolio, an insurance company should not apply the same premium for all insured risks. Otherwise the so-called concept

  8. On a Stochastic Model in Insurance

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Insurance mathematics today is considered a part of applied probability theory. Main objectives are modelling of claims that arrive in an insurance business, and decide how premiums are to be charged to avoid ruin of the insurance company. GENERAL I ARTICLE various results and the heuristics can be appreciated.

  9. In vitro antifungal activity of bacteria against Mycosphaerella fijiensis mediated by diffused and volatile metabolites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mileidy Cruz-Martín

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Antagonistic microorganisms do not have a unique mode of action. Multiplicity of these is an important feature for selection as biological control agents. Black Sigatoka is considered the foliar disease with most economic impact for the banana industry worldwide. New strategies to control it are required to reduce the use of fungicides. That is why an increasing interest to find biological alternatives, such as the use of antagonistic bacteria, has risen. Assays wer e carr ied ou t to determine whether in v it r o ant if ungal ac ti vity of 20 bacterial str ai ns against My cosphaer ella fijiensis was caused by metabolites diffused into the culture medium or volatile. Results demonstrated that 80.0% of bacterial strains tested showed in vitro antifungal activity by diffused metabolites in the culture medium and 60.0% by producing volatile metabolites. The 55.0% of strains showed both mechanisms. This feature makes these bacteria the best candidate for its selection as biological control agent. Keywords: antagonistic, biocontrol, volatile compounds, diffused metabolites.

  10. NEW VECTORS OF THE MOTOR INSURANCE DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Prikazyuk

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The essence and features of different forms of motor insurance are studied. As investigated, the motor insurance is one of the most popular types of insurance in many countries, and continues its further quality development. It is stated that the following new vectors of development has been recently observed in developed countries: Internet sales are getting significantly prevalent along with the traditional channels of insurance distribution; insurers’ websites provide a wide range of online features in motor insurance; innovations in motor insurance based on the use of telematics, particularly the usage-based insurance, are widely spread. Basic types of motor insurance, which represent the domestic market, are analyzed. It was found that the share of motor insurance in the insurance market of Ukraine is significant. As established, the proportion of net premiums of motor insurance is decreasing, because its development is significantly influenced by economic factors. Measures, applied by insurance companies in the domestic market of motor insurance to attract new customers and retain the existing ones, are defined. In particular, insurers are trying to develop the implementation of insurance services online, and use possibilities offered by mobile technologies. It was found that the domestic market of motor insurance is characterized by a high level of fraud, that is why some innovative measures in the domestic and international motor insurance agreements are taken to decrease it, such as the introduction of mandatory registration of insurance agents, who have the right to perform mediatory activity in compulsory civil liability insurance of owners of motor vehicles (CCLIOMV, and procedures for contracting the international insurance “Green Card” agreements with simultaneous entering the information on concluded agreement into a unified centralized database of Motor (transport insurance bureau of Ukraine using the “Green Card online

  11. Marketing of Insurance Products in Kenya

    OpenAIRE

    Adhiambo, Irene

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of the study is to find out and improve on strategy used in the Marketing of Insurance Products in Kenya; Case of African Merchants Assurance Company Ltd (AMACO). AMACO is one of the 44 insurance firms in Kenya. Among others it is a local incorporated company, which makes a difference in that it is not one of the leading insurance firms in Kenya, which is held by such firms as British-American insurance company. The methodology used is quantitative, qualitative methods, interview ...

  12. The evolution of bacterial cell size: the internal diffusion-constraint hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallet, Romain; Violle, Cyrille; Fromin, Nathalie; Jabbour-Zahab, Roula; Enquist, Brian J; Lenormand, Thomas

    2017-07-01

    Size is one of the most important biological traits influencing organismal ecology and evolution. However, we know little about the drivers of body size evolution in unicellulars. A long-term evolution experiment (Lenski's LTEE) in which Escherichia coli adapts to a simple glucose medium has shown that not only the growth rate and the fitness of the bacterium increase over time but also its cell size. This increase in size contradicts prominent 'external diffusion' theory (EDC) predicting that cell size should have evolved toward smaller cells. Among several scenarios, we propose and test an alternative 'internal diffusion-constraint' (IDC) hypothesis for cell size evolution. A change in cell volume affects metabolite concentrations in the cytoplasm. The IDC states that a higher metabolism can be achieved by a reduction in the molecular traffic time inside of the cell, by increasing its volume. To test this hypothesis, we studied a population from the LTEE. We show that bigger cells with greater growth and CO 2 production rates and lower mass-to-volume ratio were selected over time in the LTEE. These results are consistent with the IDC hypothesis. This novel hypothesis offers a promising approach for understanding the evolutionary constraints on cell size.

  13. Insurer risk control and nuclear liability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeMerchant, C.

    2015-01-01

    We specialize in high quality insurance risk management, underwriting and inspections for Canadian nuclear exposures. We provide true risk transfer, secure insurance capacity and collaborate with the world's nuclear experts to create innovative domestic solutions for our clients and members. The benefit of our experience works for all stake holders: insured clients, members, multi-level government agencies and all Canadians. NIAC has a 55-year history of partnering with insurers around the globe to create reliable risk management for the nuclear industry. We offer Canadian risk solutions, thought leadership and expertise that provides security and confidence to our customers and members. NIAC leads in the areas of nuclear insurance law, good governance and claims administration to create a true Centre of Excellence.

  14. Premium Forecasting of AN Insurance Company:

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fouladvand, M. Ebrahim; Darooneh, Amir H.

    We present an analytical study of an insurance company. We model the company's performance on a statistical basis and evaluate the predicted annual income of the company in terms of insurance parameters namely the premium, the total number of insured, average loss claims etc. We restrict ourselves to a single insurance class the so-called automobile insurance. We show the existence of a crossover premium pc below which the company is operating at a loss. Above pc, we also give a detailed statistical analysis of the company's financial status and obtain the predicted profit along with the corresponding risk as well as ruin probability in terms of premium. Furthermore we obtain the optimal premium popt which maximizes the company's profit.

  15. Insurer risk control and nuclear liability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeMerchant, C. [Nuclear Insurance Association of Canada, Toronto, ON (Canada)

    2015-07-01

    We specialize in high quality insurance risk management, underwriting and inspections for Canadian nuclear exposures. We provide true risk transfer, secure insurance capacity and collaborate with the world's nuclear experts to create innovative domestic solutions for our clients and members. The benefit of our experience works for all stake holders: insured clients, members, multi-level government agencies and all Canadians. NIAC has a 55-year history of partnering with insurers around the globe to create reliable risk management for the nuclear industry. We offer Canadian risk solutions, thought leadership and expertise that provides security and confidence to our customers and members. NIAC leads in the areas of nuclear insurance law, good governance and claims administration to create a true Centre of Excellence.

  16. Insurability of Terrorism Risks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harbruecker, D.

    2006-01-01

    Until 2001 losses caused by terrorist attacks have been covered under fire policies worldwide with two exceptions: Spain and UK where major and multiple losses caused by ETA and IRA had led to specific insurance solutions. The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre have changed the world in many aspects. This includes the insurance industry, which was compelled to exclude terrorism from coverage and to offer special solutions for extra premium. Nuclear power plants have been repeatedly called targets for terrorists as their destruction could cause a large catastrophe and more victims than the September 2001 attacks. How does the insurance industry respond? (author)

  17. Evaluation of the harmonization process of the Czech insurance market with the single insurance market of the EU

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viktória Čejková

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available For the Czech insurance industry, it has been 13 years since the passage of the Insurance Act in 1991, which did away with the monopoly and allowed competition in this business sector. In our evaluation, we can state that the positives outweigh the negatives. A relatively high pace of growth in total premiums written was achieved and the ratio of premiums written to GDP increased, up to 4,0% in 2002. In comparison with EU countries, the Czech insurance market is behind in 2 global indicators: the ratio of premiums written to GDP and the share of life insurance in total premiums written. The Czech insurance market must count on greater competition from foreign insurance companies, as the Czech Republic was May 1, 2004, accepted as a member of the European Union.

  18. Analysis of the contribution of sedimentation to bacterial mass transport in a parallel plate flow chamber

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Li, Jiuyi; Busscher, Henk J.; Norde, Willem; Sjollema, Jelmer

    2011-01-01

    In order to investigate bacterium-substratum interactions, understanding of bacterial mass transport is necessary. Comparisons of experimentally observed initial deposition rates with mass transport rates in parallel-plate-flow-chambers (PPFC) predicted by convective-diffusion yielded deposition

  19. Effect of flow and active mixing on bacterial growth in a colon-like geometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cremer, Jonas; Segota, Igor; Arnoldini, Markus; Groisman, Alex; Hwa, Terence

    The large intestine harbors bacteria from hundreds of species, with bacterial densities reaching up to 1012 cells per gram. Many different factors influence bacterial growth dynamics and thus bacterial density and microbiota composition. One dominant force is flow which can in principle lead to a washout of bacteria from the proximal colon. Active mixing by Contractions of the colonic wall together with bacterial growth might counteract such flow-forces and allow high bacterial densities to occur. As a step towards understanding bacterial growth in the presence of mixing and flow, we constructed an in-vitro setup where controlled wall-deformations of a channel emulate Contractions. We investigate growth along the channel under a steady nutrient inflow. In the limits of no or very frequent Contractions, the device behaves like a plug-flow reactor and a chemostat respectively. Depending on mixing and flow, we observe varying spatial gradients in bacterial density along the channel. Active mixing by deformations of the channel wall is shown to be crucial in maintaining a steady-state bacterial population in the presence of flow. The growth-dynamics is quantitatively captured by a simple mathematical model, with the effect of mixing described by an effective diffusion term.

  20. INNOVATION, IMITATION, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: THE INTRODUCTION AND DIFFUSION OF THE HOMEOWNERS POLICY, 1944-1960

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Paul Rossi

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper uses the introduction of the homeowners policy in the United States insurance market in the I950s to explore the process of innovation and the role that innovators (entrepreneurs and imitators play within it through an examination of Schumpeter’s theory of innovation and its discussion in the recent economic literature on innovation and imitation. Schumpeter’s model of entrepreneurial innovation is tested through a case study of the homeowners policy’s introduction in 1950 and its subsequent diffusion throughout the decade. The policy was an innovative product which helped transform the property-casualty sector of the insurance industry. Thus, this case study supports Schumpeter’s model of entrepreneurial innovation and illustrates the significant role that imitation plays within it.

  1. 75 FR 1548 - Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers Required To File Reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-12

    ... vehicle insurers that are required to file reports on their motor vehicle theft loss experiences. An.... Each insurer's report includes information about thefts and recoveries of motor vehicles, the rating... state and; (3) rental and leasing companies with a fleet of 20 or more vehicles not covered by theft...

  2. 24 CFR 241.885 - Insurance benefits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance benefits. 241.885 Section... § 241.885 Insurance benefits. (a) Method of payment. Payment of claims shall be made in the following... acceptable assignment of the note and security instrument to the Commissioner, the insurance benefits shall...

  3. 24 CFR 203.443 - Insurance premium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance premium. 203.443 Section... premium. All of the provisions of §§ 203.260 through 203.269 1 concerning mortgage insurance premiums... DEVELOPMENT MORTGAGE AND LOAN INSURANCE PROGRAMS UNDER NATIONAL HOUSING ACT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES SINGLE...

  4. 24 CFR 232.805 - Insurance premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance premiums. 232.805 Section... FACILITIES Contract Rights and Obligations Premiums § 232.805 Insurance premiums. (a) First premium. The... insurance premium equal to one percent of the original face amount of the note. (b) Second premium. The...

  5. ETHICS IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

    OpenAIRE

    Gavriletea Marius

    2008-01-01

    The present paper debates the main aspects related to ethics, into an industry that recorded exponential growth in Romania insurance field. A very important role for a good business is enhanced by the ethics. The specialists appreciate that ethics represent a key factor for business success. Obviously, the insurance field into a competition market must follow all the aspects related to ethics. The ethics should be an essential element of every insurance company management. If we talk about et...

  6. Business intelligence for insurance companies

    OpenAIRE

    IGNATIUK A.

    2016-01-01

    The current state and future trends for the world and domestic insurance markets are analyzed. The description of business intelligence methodology, tools and their practical implication for insurance companies are provided.

  7. Competition in hospital and health insurance markets: a review and research agenda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrisey, M A

    2001-04-01

    To review the empirical literature on the effects of selective contracting and hospital competition on hospital prices, travel distance, services, and quality; to review the effects of managed care penetration and competition on health insurance premiums; and to identify areas for further research. Selective contracting has allowed managed care plans to obtain lower prices from hospitals. This finding is generalizable beyond California and is stronger when there is more competition in the hospital market. Travel distances to hospitals of admission have not increased as a result of managed care. Evidence on the diffusion of technology in hospitals and the extent to which hospitals have specialized as a result of managed care is mixed. Little research on the effects on quality has been undertaken, but preliminary evidence suggests that hospital quality has not declined and may have improved. Actual mergers in the hospital market have not affected hospital prices. Much less research has been focused on managed care markets. Greater market penetration and greater competition among managed care plans are associated with lower managed care premiums. Greater HMO penetration appears to be much more effective than PPO penetration in leading to lower premiums. While workers are willing to change plans when faced with higher out-of-pocket premiums, there is little evidence of the willingness of employers to switch plan offerings. Preliminary evidence suggests that greater managed care penetration has led to lower overall employer premiums, but the results differ substantially between employers with and without a self-insured plan. Much more research is needed to examine all aspects of managed care markets. In hospital markets, particular attention should be focused on the effects on quality and technology diffusion.

  8. Can Broader Diffusion of Value-Based Insurance Design Increase Benefits from US Health Care without Increasing Costs? Evidence from a Computer Simulation Model

    OpenAIRE

    Scott Braithwaite, R.; Omokaro, Cynthia; Justice, Amy C.; Nucifora, Kimberly; Roberts, Mark S.

    2010-01-01

    Editors' Summary Background More money is spent per person on health care in the US than in any other country. US health care expenditure accounts for 16.2% of the gross domestic product and this figure is rising. Indeed, the increase in health care costs is outstripping the economy's growth rate. Consequently, US policy makers and providers of health insurance?health care in the US is largely provided by the private sector and is paid for through private health insurance or through governmen...

  9. Entrepreneurial Moral Hazard in Income Insurance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ejrnæs, Mette; Hochguertel, Stefan

    We study risk behavior of Danish self-employed entrepreneurs, whose income risk may be driven by both exogenous factors and effort choice (moral hazard). Partial insurance is available through voluntary unemployment insurance (UI). Additional incentives to sign insurance contracts stem from a UI......-embedded, government-subsidized early retirement (ER) program, giving benefits that are unrelated to business risk. Indeed, we argue that the self-employeds' incentives to insure themselves stem from the ER plan rather than from the UI cover. We show how to use a policy reform to identify moral hazard in observed...

  10. Development of the Health Insurance Literacy Measure (HILM): Conceptualizing and Measuring Consumer Ability to Choose and Use Private Health Insurance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paez, Kathryn A.; Mallery, Coretta J.; Noel, HarmoniJoie; Pugliese, Christopher; McSorley, Veronica E.; Lucado, Jennifer L.; Ganachari, Deepa

    2014-01-01

    Understanding health insurance is central to affording and accessing health care in the United States. Efforts to support consumers in making wise purchasing decisions and using health insurance to their advantage would benefit from the development of a valid and reliable measure to assess health insurance literacy. This article reports on the development of the Health Insurance Literacy Measure (HILM), a self-assessment measure of consumers' ability to select and use private health insurance. The authors developed a conceptual model of health insurance literacy based on formative research and stakeholder guidance. Survey items were drafted using the conceptual model as a guide then tested in two rounds of cognitive interviews. After a field test with 828 respondents, exploratory factor analysis revealed two HILM scales, choosing health insurance and using health insurance, each of which is divided into a confidence subscale and likelihood of behavior subscale. Correlations between the HILM scales and an objective measure of health insurance knowledge and skills were positive and statistically significant which supports the validity of the measure. PMID:25315595

  11. Patient satisfaction with primary health care - a comparison between the insured and non-insured under the National Health Insurance Policy in Ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenny, Ama Pokuaa; Enemark, Ulrika; Asante, Felix A; Hansen, Kristian S

    2014-04-01

    Ghana has initiated various health sector reforms over the past decades aimed at strengthening institutions, improving the overall health system and increasing access to healthcare services by all groups of people. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) instituted in 2005, is an innovative system aimed at making health care more accessible to people who need it. Currently, there is a growing amount of concern about the capacity of the NHIS to make quality health care accessible to its clients. A number of studies have concentrated on the effect of health insurance status on demand for health services, but have been quiet on supply side issues. The main aim of this study is to examine the overall satisfaction with health care among the insured and uninsured under the NHIS. The second aim is to explore the relations between overall satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics, health insurance and the various dimensions of quality of care. This study employs logistic regression using household survey data in three districts in Ghana covering the 3 ecological zones (coastal, forest and savannah). It identifies the service quality factors that are important to patients' satisfaction and examines their links to their health insurance status. The results indicate that a higher proportion of insured patients are satisfied with the overall quality of care compared to the uninsured. The key predictors of overall satisfaction are waiting time, friendliness of staff and satisfaction of the consultation process. These results highlight the importance of interpersonal care in health care facilities. Feedback from patients' perception of health services and satisfaction surveys improve the quality of care provided and therefore effort must be made to include these findings in future health policies.

  12. Health Insurance and Children with Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szilagyi, Peter G.

    2012-01-01

    Few people would disagree that children with disabilities need adequate health insurance. But what kind of health insurance coverage would be optimal for these children? Peter Szilagyi surveys the current state of insurance coverage for children with special health care needs and examines critical aspects of coverage with an eye to helping policy…

  13. Relative distance between tracers as a measure of diffusivity within moving aggregates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pönisch, Wolfram; Zaburdaev, Vasily

    2018-02-01

    Tracking of particles, be it a passive tracer or an actively moving bacterium in the growing bacterial colony, is a powerful technique to probe the physical properties of the environment of the particles. One of the most common measures of particle motion driven by fluctuations and random forces is its diffusivity, which is routinely obtained by measuring the mean squared displacement of the particles. However, often the tracer particles may be moving in a domain or an aggregate which itself experiences some regular or random motion and thus masks the diffusivity of tracers. Here we provide a method for assessing the diffusivity of tracer particles within mobile aggregates by measuring the so-called mean squared relative distance (MSRD) between two tracers. We provide analytical expressions for both the ensemble and time averaged MSRD allowing for direct identification of diffusivities from experimental data.

  14. System automation for a bacterial colony detection and identification instrument via forward scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bae, Euiwon; Hirleman, E Daniel; Aroonnual, Amornrat; Bhunia, Arun K; Robinson, J Paul

    2009-01-01

    A system design and automation of a microbiological instrument that locates bacterial colonies and captures the forward-scattering signatures are presented. The proposed instrument integrates three major components: a colony locator, a forward scatterometer and a motion controller. The colony locator utilizes an off-axis light source to illuminate a Petri dish and an IEEE1394 camera to capture the diffusively scattered light to provide the number of bacterial colonies and two-dimensional coordinate information of the bacterial colonies with the help of a segmentation algorithm with region-growing. Then the Petri dish is automatically aligned with the respective centroid coordinate with a trajectory optimization method, such as the Traveling Salesman Algorithm. The forward scatterometer automatically computes the scattered laser beam from a monochromatic image sensor via quadrant intensity balancing and quantitatively determines the centeredness of the forward-scattering pattern. The final scattering signatures are stored to be analyzed to provide rapid identification and classification of the bacterial samples

  15. Pet insurance--essential option?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stowe, J D

    2000-08-01

    As Hawn (2) says, "insurance is about risk and peace of mind." She reports that the American Humane Society supports pet insurance because companion animals are able to be treated for disease or accidents that are life-threatening where, otherwise, they would have been euthanized. For veterinarians, she suggests that pet insurance allows them to practice veterinary medicine "as if it were free." It is inevitable that pet insurance will grow as a recourse for veterinary fees. This may be a savior to some families whose budget is stretched to the limit at a critical moment in the health care of their cherished pet. We in the veterinary profession have an advantage over other professions. We have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of insurance, as it applies to human health and dental care. If we work hand-in-hand with our own industries, collectively we may be able to develop a system that wins for everyone, with fees that allow practice to thrive and growth strategies that accommodate new treatment and diagnostic modalities, as well as consistent and exemplary customer service. The path ahead is always fraught with bumps and potholes. We can be a passive passenger and become a victim of the times or an active driver to steer the profession to a clearer route. Pet insurance is but one of the solutions for the profession; the others are a careful assessment of our fees--charging what we are worth, not what we think the client will pay; business management; customer service; leadership of our health care team; lifelong learning; and more efficient delivery systems. Let us stop being a victim, stop shooting ourselves in the professional foot, and seize the day!

  16. Earthquake insurance pricing: a risk-based approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Jeng-Hsiang

    2018-04-01

    Flat earthquake premiums are 'uniformly' set for a variety of buildings in many countries, neglecting the fact that the risk of damage to buildings by earthquakes is based on a wide range of factors. How these factors influence the insurance premiums is worth being studied further. Proposed herein is a risk-based approach to estimate the earthquake insurance rates of buildings. Examples of application of the approach to buildings located in Taipei city of Taiwan were examined. Then, the earthquake insurance rates for the buildings investigated were calculated and tabulated. To fulfil insurance rating, the buildings were classified into 15 model building types according to their construction materials and building height. Seismic design levels were also considered in insurance rating in response to the effect of seismic zone and construction years of buildings. This paper may be of interest to insurers, actuaries, and private and public sectors of insurance. © 2018 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2018.

  17. Preliminary evaluation of optical glucose sensing in red cell concentrations using near-infrared diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Yusuke; Maruo, Katsuhiko; Zhang, Alice W.; Shimogaki, Kazushige; Ogawa, Hideto; Hirayama, Fumiya

    2012-01-01

    Bacterial contamination of blood products is one of the most frequent infectious complications of transfusion. Since glucose levels in blood supplies decrease as bacteria proliferate, it should be possible to detect the presence of bacterial contamination by measuring the glucose concentrations in the blood components. Hence this study is aimed to serve as a preliminary study for the nondestructive measurement of glucose level in transfusion blood. The glucose concentrations in red blood cell (RBC) samples were predicted using near-infrared diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy in the 1350 to 1850 nm wavelength region. Furthermore, the effects of donor, hematocrit level, and temperature variations among the RBC samples were observed. Results showed that the prediction performance of a dataset which contained samples that differed in all three parameters had a standard error of 29.3 mg/dL. Multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) preprocessing method was also found to be effective in minimizing the variations in scattering patterns created by various sample properties. The results suggest that the diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy may provide another avenue for the detection of bacterial contamination in red cell concentrations (RCC) products.

  18. Life Insurance Basics: A Self-Help Workbook for Consumers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saskatchewan Consumer and Commercial Affairs, Regina.

    This booklet provides consumers with an overview of information about life insurance. Chapter 1, "Why Life Insurance?" outlines the primary purposes of life insurance coverage and presents basic facts about the Canadian life insurance industry. Chapter 2, "Do I Need Life Insurance?" discusses life insurance coverage at specific…

  19. Healthcare.gov Insurance Finder Tool

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — This tool will help you find the health insurance best suited to your needs, whether its private insurance for individuals, families, and small businesses, or public...

  20. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Ignatiuk

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The current state and future trends for the world and domestic insurance markets are analyzed. The description of business intelligence methodology, tools and their practical implication for insurance companies are provided.

  1. Economic and Managerial Approach of Health Insurances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marinela BOBOC

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper represents an analysis in the domain of the social insurances for health care. It emphasizes the necessity and the opportunity ofcreating in Romania a medical service market based on the competing system. In Romania, the social insurances for health care are at their verybeginning. The development of the domain of the private insurances for health care is prevented even by its legislation, due to the lack of a normativeact that may regulate the management of the private insurances for health care. The establishment of the legislation related to the optional insurancesfor health care might lead to some activity norms for the companies which carry out optional insurances for health care. The change of the legislationis made in order to create normative and financial opportunities for the development of the optional medical insurances. This change, as part of thesocial protection of people, will positively influence the development of the medical insurance system. The extension of the segment of the optionalinsurances into the medical insurance segment increases the health protection budget with the value of the financial sources which do not belong tothe budgetary funds.

  2. Development of the Health Insurance Literacy Measure (HILM): Conceptualizing and Measuring Consumer Ability to Choose and Use Private Health Insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Paez, Kathryn A.; Mallery, Coretta J.; Noel, HarmoniJoie; Pugliese, Christopher; McSorley, Veronica E.; Lucado, Jennifer L.; Ganachari, Deepa

    2014-01-01

    Understanding health insurance is central to affording and accessing health care in the United States. Efforts to support consumers in making wise purchasing decisions and using health insurance to their advantage would benefit from the development of a valid and reliable measure to assess health insurance literacy. This article reports on the development of the Health Insurance Literacy Measure (HILM), a self-assessment measure of consumers' ability to select and use private health insurance...

  3. Pricing of temperature index insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Che Mohd Imran Che Taib

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to study pricing of weather insurance contracts based on temperature indices. Three different pricing methods are analysed: the classical burn approach, index modelling and temperature modelling. We take the data from Malaysia as our empirical case. Our results show that there is a significant difference between the burn and index pricing approaches on one hand, and the temperature modelling method on the other. The latter approach is pricing the insurance contract using a seasonal autoregressive time series model for daily temperature variations, and thus provides a precise probabilistic model for the fine structure of temperature evolution. We complement our pricing analysis by an investigation of the profit/loss distribution from the contract, in the perspective of both the insured and the insurer.

  4. Should Governments engage health insurance intermediaries? A comparison of benefits with and without insurance intermediary in a large tax funded community health insurance scheme in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagulapalli, Srikant; Rokkam, Sudarsana Rao

    2015-09-10

    A peculiar phenomenon of engaging insurance intermediaries for government funded health insurance schemes for the poor, not usually found globally, is gaining ground in India. Rajiv Aarogyasri Scheme launched in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, is first largest tax funded community health insurance scheme in the country covering more than 20 million poor families. Aarogyasri Health Care Trust (trust), the scheme administrator, transfers funds to hospitals through two routes one, directly and the other through an insurance intermediary. The objective of this paper is to find out if engaging an insurance intermediary has any effect on cost efficiency of the insurance scheme. We used payment data of RAS for the period 2007-12, to find out the influence of insurance intermediary on the two variables, benefit cost ratio defined as benefit payment divided by premium payment, and claim denial ratio defined as benefit payment divided by treatment cost. Relationship between scheme expenditure and number of beds empanelled under the scheme is examined. OLS regression is used to perform all analyses. We found that adding an additional layer of insurance intermediary between the trust and hospitals reduced the benefit cost ratio under the scheme by 12.2% (p-value = 0.06). Every addition of 100 beds under the scheme increases the scheme payments by US$ 0.75 million (p-value insurance and trust modes narrowed down from 2.84% in government hospitals to 0.41% in private hospitals (p-value insurance intermediary has the twin effects of reduction in benefit payments to beneficiaries, and chocking fund flow to government hospitals. The idea of engaging insurance intermediary should be abandoned.

  5. Consumer choice of social health insurance in managed competition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kerssens, Jan J.; Groenewegen, Peter P.

    2003-01-01

    Objective To promote managed competition in Dutch health insurance, the insured are now able to change heaith insurers. They can choose a health insurer with a low flat-rate premium, the best supplementary insurance and/or the best service. As we do not know why people prefer one health insurer to

  6. Consumer choice of social health insurance in managed competition.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kerssens, J.J.; Groenewegen, P.P.

    2003-01-01

    Objective: To promote managed competition in Dutch health insurance, the insured are now able to change health insurers. They can choose a health insurer with a low flat-rate premium, the best supplementary insurance and/or the best service. As we do not know why people prefer one health insurer to

  7. Modeling of the Bacillus subtilis Bacterial Biofilm Growing on an Agar Substrate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoling; Wang, Guoqing; Hao, Mudong

    2015-01-01

    Bacterial biofilms are organized communities composed of millions of microorganisms that accumulate on almost any kinds of surfaces. In this paper, a biofilm growth model on an agar substrate is developed based on mass conservation principles, Fick's first law, and Monod's kinetic reaction, by considering nutrient diffusion between biofilm and agar substrate. Our results show biofilm growth evolution characteristics such as biofilm thickness, active biomass, and nutrient concentration in the agar substrate. We quantitatively obtain biofilm growth dependence on different parameters. We provide an alternative mathematical method to describe other kinds of biofilm growth such as multiple bacterial species biofilm and also biofilm growth on various complex substrates.

  8. MARKETING STRATEGY OF COMMERCIAL HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cut Zaraswati

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The objectives of this research are to: 1 compare the effect of premium earnings products of health insurances after the launching of national social health insurance (JKN-BPJS (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial for health; 2 analyze the internal and external factors of private/commercial health insurance companies; 3 formulate a marketing strategyy for health insurance product after the operation of JKN-BPJS for health.  It is a challenge for commercial health insurance to survive and thrive with the existence of JKN-BPJS for health which is compulsory to Indonesia’s citizens to be a member. The research begins by analyzing premium earnings of the commercial health insurance company one year before and after the implementation of JKN-BPJS for health, the intensive interviews and questionnaires to the chosen resource person (purposive samplings, the analysis on Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE, External Factor Evaluation (EFE, Matrix IE and SWOT are used in the research. Then it is continued by arranging a strategic priority using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP.  The result from the research is there is totally no decreasing premium earnings for the commercial health insurance company although the growth trend shows a slight drop.  The appropriate strategy for the health insurance company in the commercial sector is the differentiation where the implication is involving customer service quality improvement, product innovation, and technology and infrastructure development.      Keywords:  commercial health insurance company, Marketing Strategy, AHP Analysis, national social health insurance

  9. A Logistic Regression Based Auto Insurance Rate-Making Model Designed for the Insurance Rate Reform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhengmin Duan

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Using a generalized linear model to determine the claim frequency of auto insurance is a key ingredient in non-life insurance research. Among auto insurance rate-making models, there are very few considering auto types. Therefore, in this paper we are proposing a model that takes auto types into account by making an innovative use of the auto burden index. Based on this model and data from a Chinese insurance company, we built a clustering model that classifies auto insurance rates into three risk levels. The claim frequency and the claim costs are fitted to select a better loss distribution. Then the Logistic Regression model is employed to fit the claim frequency, with the auto burden index considered. Three key findings can be concluded from our study. First, more than 80% of the autos with an auto burden index of 20 or higher belong to the highest risk level. Secondly, the claim frequency is better fitted using the Poisson distribution, however the claim cost is better fitted using the Gamma distribution. Lastly, based on the AIC criterion, the claim frequency is more adequately represented by models that consider the auto burden index than those do not. It is believed that insurance policy recommendations that are based on Generalized linear models (GLM can benefit from our findings.

  10. Examining the influence of health insurance literacy and perception on the people preference to purchase private voluntary health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathur, Tanuj; Das, Gurudas; Gupta, Hemendra

    2018-01-01

    Most studies have associated "un-affordability" as a plausible cause for the lower take-up of private voluntary health insurance plans. However, others refuted this claim on the pretext that when people can afford "inpatient-care" from pocket then insurance premium cost is far less than those payments. Thus, economic factors remain insufficient in clearly explaining the reason for poor private voluntary health insurance take-up. An attempt is being made by shifting the focus towards non-economic factors and understanding the role of perception and health insurance literacy in transforming people preferences to invest in private voluntary health insurance plans. The study findings will conspicuously support decision-makers in developing strategy to increase the private voluntary health insurance take-up.

  11. Occupational injury insurance - A strategy for prevention?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Thomas

    1993-01-01

    Can compulsory occupational injury insurance be used as a strategy for prevention in the work place? This is discussed on the basis of two different insurance systems - the Danish and the French.......Can compulsory occupational injury insurance be used as a strategy for prevention in the work place? This is discussed on the basis of two different insurance systems - the Danish and the French....

  12. Benefit distribution of social health insurance: evidence from china's urban resident basic medical insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Jay; Tian, Sen; Zhou, Qin; Han, Wei

    2016-09-01

    Equity is one of the essential objectives of the social health insurance. This article evaluates the benefit distribution of the China's Urban Residents' Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI), covering 300 million urban populations. Using the URBMI Household Survey data fielded between 2007 and 2011, we estimate the benefit distribution by the two-part model, and find that the URBMI beneficiaries from lower income groups benefited less than that of higher income groups. In other words, government subsidy that was supposed to promote the universal coverage of health care flew more to the rich. Our study provides new evidence on China's health insurance system reform, and it bears meaningful policy implication for other developing countries facing similar challenges on the way to universal coverage of health insurance. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Interdependence of life insurance service quality and premium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Benazić

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Insurance companies in Croatia feel the need to find new sources of competitive advantage on the Croatian life insurance market amid increasing competition and a poorly profiled offer of life insurance services. Lately, both marketing literature and practice seem to point to the shaping of a relationship between service quality and price as a possible solution to improving the position of insurance companies on the Croatian market. In providing life insurance services, the insurance companies should focus on the quality elements that offer certain benefits a client is willing to pay for. Changes in individual quality features have been evaluated differently by clients. Such differences in their evaluation of changes in the individual elements of service quality also reflect the willingness of clients to pay a suitable increase on their insurance premium. Improvements in the service quality features that are subjectively evaluated as important should lead to the client’s acceptance of a higher life insurance premium. The paper considers the interdependence between the quality of life insurance services and the premium from the aspect of the client’s willingness to pay a higher life insurance premium for a higher service quality.

  14. Modeling physiological resistance in bacterial biofilms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cogan, N G; Cortez, Ricardo; Fauci, Lisa

    2005-07-01

    A mathematical model of the action of antimicrobial agents on bacterial biofilms is presented. The model includes the fluid dynamics in and around the biofilm, advective and diffusive transport of two chemical constituents and the mechanism of physiological resistance. Although the mathematical model applies in three dimensions, we present two-dimensional simulations for arbitrary biofilm domains and various dosing strategies. The model allows the prediction of the spatial evolution of bacterial population and chemical constituents as well as different dosing strategies based on the fluid motion. We find that the interaction between the nutrient and the antimicrobial agent can reproduce survival curves which are comparable to other model predictions as well as experimental results. The model predicts that exposing the biofilm to low concentration doses of antimicrobial agent for longer time is more effective than short time dosing with high antimicrobial agent concentration. The effects of flow reversal and the roughness of the fluid/biofilm are also investigated. We find that reversing the flow increases the effectiveness of dosing. In addition, we show that overall survival decreases with increasing surface roughness.

  15. Risk transfer solutions for the insurance industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Njegomir Vladimir

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper focuses on the traditional and alternative mechanisms for insurance risk transfer that are available to global as well as to domestic insurance companies. The findings suggest that traditional insurance risk transfer solutions available to insurance industry nowadays will be predominant in the foreseeable future but the increasing role of alternative solutions is to be expected as the complementary rather than supplementary solution to traditional transfer. Additionally, findings suggest that it is reasonable to expect that future development of risk transfer solutions in Serbia will follow the path that has been passed by global insurance industry.

  16. SOLVENCY OF INSURANCE COMPANIES IN THE ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MARIA MIRABELA FLOREA IANC

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The insurance companies operating in a competitive and dynamic economic climate, so solvency is a very important problem. The guarantee funds protect policyholders against situations where insurers can not meet its contractual obligations, and supervisors constant attention is how to regulate the insurance business. Overall solvency of insurance companies show that has been achieved relative success in this area due to regulations adopted. Although in recent years the number of insolvency cases increased worrying emphasis on solvency control should lead to a reduction in the occurrence of such cases and the increased safety offered by insurance products.

  17. Risk assessment and nuclear insurance: an overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deitchman, J.V.; King, W.T. Jr.; Olding, R.P.

    1976-01-01

    In the nascent years of commercial nuclear power, the insurance industry expressed confidence in the safety of nuclear operations by committing unprecedented insurance capacity to nuclear risks. As the nuclear industry has developed, it has compiled an enviable safety record. The initial confidence of the insurance industry has thus been justified and an ever-increasing portion of the financial liability associated with nuclear operations has been accepted by the world-wide insurance markets. This increasing acceptance and understanding of nuclear risks by the insurance industry has resulted in significantly reduced rates and large premium refunds for nuclear operators

  18. Risk Management and Insurance Decisions under Ambiguity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martínez-Correa, Jimmy

    I study the impact of ambiguity on insurance decisions and the optimality of insurance contracts. My tractable approach allows me to study the interaction between risk and ambiguity attitudes. When insurance decisions are made independently of other assets, for a given increase in wealth, both risk...... portfolio theory that assumes Subjective Expected Utility theory; however, it provides hints to a possible solution of the under-diversification puzzle of households. I also identify conditions under which more risk or ambiguity aversion decreases the demand for coinsurance. Additionally, I show...... a counterexample to a classical result in insurance economics where an insurance contract with straight deductible is dominated by a coinsurance contract. Finally, I find that a modified Borch rule characterizes the optimal insurance contract with bilateral risk and ambiguity attitudes and heterogeneity in beliefs....

  19. Radiology of bacterial pneumonia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vilar, Jose; Domingo, Maria Luisa; Soto, Cristina; Cogollos, Jonathan

    2004-01-01

    Bacterial pneumonia is commonly encountered in clinical practice. Radiology plays a prominent role in the evaluation of pneumonia. Chest radiography is the most commonly used imaging tool in pneumonias due to its availability and excellent cost benefit ratio. CT should be used in unresolved cases or when complications of pneumonia are suspected. The main applications of radiology in pneumonia are oriented to detection, characterisation and follow-up, especially regarding complications. The classical classification of pneumonias into lobar and bronchial pneumonia has been abandoned for a more clinical classification. Thus, bacterial pneumonias are typified into three main groups: Community acquired pneumonia (CAD), Aspiration pneumonia and Nosocomial pneumonia (NP).The usual pattern of CAD is that of the previously called lobar pneumonia; an air-space consolidation limited to one lobe or segment. Nevertheless, the radiographic patterns of CAD may be variable and are often related to the causative agent. Aspiration pneumonia generally involves the lower lobes with bilateral multicentric opacities. Nosocomial Pneumonia (NP) occurs in hospitalised patients. The importance of NP is related to its high mortality and, thus, the need to obtain a prompt diagnosis. The role of imaging in NP is limited but decisive. The most valuable information is when the chest radiographs are negative and rule out pneumonia. The radiographic patterns of NP are very variable, most commonly showing diffuse multifocal involvement and pleural effusion. Imaging plays also an important role in the detection and evaluation of complications of bacterial pneumonias. In many of these cases, especially in hospitalised patients, chest CT must be obtained in order to better depict these associate findings

  20. Radiology of bacterial pneumonia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vilar, Jose E-mail: vilar_jlu@gva.es; Domingo, Maria Luisa; Soto, Cristina; Cogollos, Jonathan

    2004-08-01

    Bacterial pneumonia is commonly encountered in clinical practice. Radiology plays a prominent role in the evaluation of pneumonia. Chest radiography is the most commonly used imaging tool in pneumonias due to its availability and excellent cost benefit ratio. CT should be used in unresolved cases or when complications of pneumonia are suspected. The main applications of radiology in pneumonia are oriented to detection, characterisation and follow-up, especially regarding complications. The classical classification of pneumonias into lobar and bronchial pneumonia has been abandoned for a more clinical classification. Thus, bacterial pneumonias are typified into three main groups: Community acquired pneumonia (CAD), Aspiration pneumonia and Nosocomial pneumonia (NP).The usual pattern of CAD is that of the previously called lobar pneumonia; an air-space consolidation limited to one lobe or segment. Nevertheless, the radiographic patterns of CAD may be variable and are often related to the causative agent. Aspiration pneumonia generally involves the lower lobes with bilateral multicentric opacities. Nosocomial Pneumonia (NP) occurs in hospitalised patients. The importance of NP is related to its high mortality and, thus, the need to obtain a prompt diagnosis. The role of imaging in NP is limited but decisive. The most valuable information is when the chest radiographs are negative and rule out pneumonia. The radiographic patterns of NP are very variable, most commonly showing diffuse multifocal involvement and pleural effusion. Imaging plays also an important role in the detection and evaluation of complications of bacterial pneumonias. In many of these cases, especially in hospitalised patients, chest CT must be obtained in order to better depict these associate findings.

  1. Environmental pollution risk and insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Fragnelli, Vito; Marina, Maria Erminia

    2002-01-01

    We consider environmental risks that are evaluated too much heavy for a single insurance company, but they can be insured by n companies which a premium is assigned to.This is precisely the Italian scenario where a pool of companies co-insures these risks.Under a game theoretic approach we start by analyzing how they should split the risk and the premium in order to be better off. Under suitable hypotheses, there exists an optimal decomposition of the risk, that allow us to define a cooperati...

  2. 78 FR 58264 - Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance Information Access

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-23

    ... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 38 CFR Part 9 RIN 2900-AO42 Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance Information Access AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its regulations governing...

  3. Nuclear liability act and nuclear insurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clarke, Roy G.; Goyette, R.; Mathers, C.W.; Germani, T.R.

    1976-01-01

    The Nuclear Liability Act, enacted in June 1970 and proclaimed effective October 11, 1976, is a federal law governing civil liability for nuclear damage in Canada incorporating many of the basic principles of the international conventions. Exceptions to operator liability for breach of duty imposed by the Act and duty of the operator as well as right of recourse, time limit on bringing actions, special measures for compensation and extent of territory over which the operator is liable are of particular interest. An operator must maintain $75,000,000. of insurance for each nuclear installation for which he is the operator. The Nuclear Insurance Association of Canada (NIAC) administers two ΣPoolsΣ or groups of insurance companies where each member participates for the percentage of the total limit on a net basis, one pool being for Physical Damage Insurance and the other for Liability Insurance. The Atomic Energy Control Board recommends to the Treasury Board the amount of insurance (basic) for each installation. Basic insurance required depends on the exposure and can range from $4 million for a fuel fabricator to $75 million for a power reactor. Coverage under the Operator's Policy provides for bodily injury, property damage and various other claims such as damage from certain transportation incidents as well as nuclear excursions. Workmen's Compensation will continue to be handled by the usual channels. (L.L.)

  4. Insurance market development: An empirical study of African countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Athenia Bongani Sibindi

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The insurance industry plays a very crucial role in an economy by fostering intermediation and by its mechanism of risk bearing. As such it could be argued that the insurance industry fosters economic growth. In this article we analyse the global insurance market development trends, particularly focusing on Africa. Our sample comprise of the 10 African countries namely—South Africa, Angola, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt. We employ three insurance market development metrics namely; premium volumes, insurance density and insurance penetrations ratios to establish trends in the level of development of global insurance markets. Our results document that the African countries (excluding South Africa have the least developed insurance markets. For most of the countries in our sample, the non-life insurance industry dominates the life-insurance industry. As such, it is imperative that their respective governments put in place measures that will grow their economies inorder to stimulate the development of insurance markets in Africa.

  5. Medical Progress and Supplementary Private Health Insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Reiner Leidl

    2003-01-01

    In many welfare states, tightening financial constraints suggest excluding some medical services, including new ones, from social security coverage. This may create opportunities for private health insurance. This study analyses the performance of supplementary private health insurance (SPHI) in markets for excluded services in terms of population covered, risk selection and insurer profits. Using a utility-based simulation model, the insurance market is described as a composite of sub-market...

  6. Enhancing employee capacity to prioritize health insurance benefits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danis, Marion; Goold, Susan Dorr; Parise, Carol; Ginsburg, Marjorie

    2007-09-01

    To demonstrate that employees can gain understanding of the financial constraints involved in designing health insurance benefits. While employees who receive their health insurance through the workplace have much at stake as the cost of health insurance rises, they are not necessarily prepared to constructively participate in prioritizing their health insurance benefits in order to limit cost. Structured group exercises. Employees of 41 public and private organizations in Northern California. Administration of the CHAT (Choosing Healthplans All Together) exercise in which participants engage in deliberation to design health insurance benefits under financial constraints. Change in priorities and attitudes about the need to exercise insurance cost constraints. Participants (N = 744) became significantly more cognizant of the need to limit insurance benefits for the sake of affordability and capable of prioritizing benefit options. Those agreeing that it is reasonable to limit health insurance coverage given the cost increased from 47% to 72%. It is both possible and valuable to involve employees in priority setting regarding health insurance benefits through the use of structured decision tools.

  7. Environmental pollution and liability insurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boediker, T.

    1980-01-01

    By the declared will of the legislative bodies to give effect to the polluter pays principle on all levels those have to pay the costs of removing impairments of environmental media that are responsible for its occurence. Thus environmental pollution becomes a considerable financial risk for the polluter. Against this risk they try to protect themselves by the corresponding precautionary measures, e.g. by insurance. The insurance industry is consequently requested to meet this new demand. The legal bases are followed by the description of the insurance relationship under the aspect of the theory of risks, which follows, based on the basic model of decision theory, the objective of a quantitative representation of the situation of the decision. In the last chapter the author deals with the financial security for the risks of a third party liability insurance of environmental pollution as it is offered today in the Federal Republic of Germany. The elaboration of the existing financial security is then compared with the legal conditions of liability. In doing this the author describes cases not covered by financial security and its definition by comparison with findings of risk theory. As a result it becomes obvious that numerous exclusions of risks could quite good be included in the financial security and that the argument of the impossibility to insure often put forward by the insurers to justify the exclusion of risks can neither theoretically nor practically be uphold. (orig./HSCH) [de

  8. Social insurance for health service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roemer, M I

    1997-06-01

    Implementation of social insurance for financing health services has yielded different patterns depending on a country's economic level and its government's political ideology. By the late 19th century, thousands of small sickness funds operated in Europe, and in 1883 Germany's Chancellor Bismarck led the enactment of a law mandating enrollment by low-income workers. Other countries followed, with France completing Western European coverage in 1928. The Russian Revolution in 1917 led to a National Health Service covering everyone from general revenues by 1937. New Zealand legislated universal population coverage in 1939. After World War II, Scandinavian countries extended coverage to everyone and Britain introduced its National Health Service covering everyone with comprehensive care and financed by general revenues in 1948. Outside of Europe Japan adopted health insurance in 1922, covering everyone in 1946. Chile was the first developing country to enact statutory health insurance in 1924 for industrial workers, with extension to all low-income people with its "Servicio Nacional de Salud" in 1952. India covered 3.5 percent of its large population with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation in 1948, and China after its 1949 revolution developed four types of health insurance for designated groups of workers and dependents. Sub-Saharan African countries took limited health insurance actions in the late 1960s and 1970s. By 1980, some 85 countries had enacted social security programs to finance or deliver health services or both.

  9. 76 FR 7767 - Student Health Insurance Coverage

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-11

    ... Student Health Insurance Coverage AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. ACTION... health insurance coverage under the Public Health Service Act and the Affordable Care Act. The proposed rule would define ``student health insurance [[Page 7768

  10. Life Insurance In Russia: Features Of Regional Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evgenia Leonidovna Prokopjeva

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Life insurance is the economic tool allowing to accumulate large monetary funds at the level of the country, regions and certain insurers, and also providing growth of a standard of living of citizens and social stability in society. Subject matter of the research is the economic aspects of development of life insurance in regions of Russia. The purpose of the work — to carry out the comparative analysis of functioning of the markets for life insurance in territorial subjects of the Russian Federation, to reveal regularities and distinctive features of development of the markets and to define further prospects of branch. Methods of research: analysis, comparison, induction, analogy, mathematical modeling were used. The main results of research: life insurance — a demanded financial product in Moscow, but in regions of Russia demand for it is extremely limited; economic indicators of the market have low values and vary on territorial subjects of the Russian Federation; statistics of a variation confirm heterogeneity of functioning of the life insurance marketin comparison with the insurance market in general; life insurance volumes in regions of Russia significantly depend on activity of real sector of economy, thus have practically no close interrelation with the income of the population. Collaboration of authorities of all levels and insurance community is necessary for effective development of the life insurance marketin regions. The special attention has to be paid to price policy of insurers, increase of transparency of the movement of their financial streams and guarantees of recoverability of means of insurers.

  11. INSURANCE AND THE CORPORATE COST OF CAPITAL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monika Wieczorek-Kosmala

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to provide some support to the thesis that insurance may reduce the cost of capital in a company by influencing both the cost of capital components and the need for rising capital. The problem is here perceived from two perspectives – the classical concept related to the weighted average cost of capital (WACC and a novel concept related to the risk-based capital structure model with the total average cost of capital (TACC. The paper explains the idea of insurance as a retrospective (post-loss risk financing tool and the risk transfer mechanism upon it. As the risk financing tool insurance reduces the need for the balance-sheet capital in a company and thus the financial distress costs. Also, insurance may reduce the level of operating risk and thus influences the required returns of the capital providers. These observations allow emphasising the impact of insurance on the WACC. However, according to the novel concept of the risk-based capital structure, insurance (as a risk financing tool represents an off-balance sheet capital component. As a consequence, it extends the volume of total capital. The presented conceptual model, based on the TACC concept, indicates that large volume of insurance (the insurance sum and its relatively low cost (the insurance premium gives the possibility to the significant reduction of the cost of capital on average. The concluding remarks discuss some dilemmas over the utility of the TACC concept.

  12. Canadians' access to insurance for prescription medicines

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    2000-01-01

    ...-economic circumstances and drug needs. Volume two presents an analysis of the un-insured and under-insured by measuring the extent to which Canadians have access to insurance for prescription drug expenses and the quality of that coverage...

  13. INTEGRATION OF ROMANIAN INSURANCES MARKET IN EU

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gheorghe MOROŞAN

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available One of the most important phenomena of the last decade has been the convergence of the financial services industry, especially the capital and insurance markets. The convergence in the insurance industry was determined by the increased frequency and the severity of catastrophic risks, market inefficiency in the past, and the new technologies in IT and communications. These globally developments can be observed much better at EU level, one of the most integrated areas of the world, which aimed the convergence of financial market, including an important component such as insurance market. As part of the EU, Romania also aims to financial market convergence with the EU countries. The article offers an overview and an analysis of the insurance market in the EU and Romania. Through a wide series of indicators such as: the amount of insurance premiums, degree of penetration, number of employees or number of insurance companies, it will analyze the evolution of this market convergence, as per all EU countries and Romania. It will identify the stage in which the insurance market in Romania is, regarding the requirements of full integration. Finally, there will be identified factors encouraging and particularly those who are impediments to insurance market convergence in Romania.

  14. A study of bacterial pathogens and antibiotic susceptibility patterns in chronic suppurative otitis media.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mofatteh, M R; Shahabian Moghaddam, F; Yousefi, M; Namaei, M H

    2018-01-01

    To assess the frequency of bacterial agents in chronic suppurative otitis media and the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of isolates among patients. A total of 185 patients clinically diagnosed with chronic suppurative otitis media were interviewed and middle-ear effusion samples were collected using sterile swabs. All bacterial isolates were identified by conventional microbiological methods. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the isolates were determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion. Staphylococci spp. (64.9 per cent) were the most prevalent bacteria isolated, followed by Klebsiella spp. (12.9 per cent) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10.3 per cent). The most effective antibiotic for treatment of bacterial chronic suppurative otitis media was ciprofloxacin. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in bacterial infestations among chronic suppurative otitis media patients and the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the bacterial isolates based on gender and age (p > 0.05). Our findings highlight the importance of a continuous and periodic evaluation of the bacteriological profile and antibiotic susceptibility patterns in chronic suppurative otitis media patients for efficacious treatment of the infection.

  15. Customer Apathy to Insurance in Nigeria: Survey Results ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Results of a recent survey of the Nigerian Insurance Industry reveal the underlying reasons for people's general indifference towards insurance. These include lack of communication by the industry, ignorance about insurance, doubts as to the integrity of insurance practitioners, and inability to afford the premium.

  16. 42 CFR 403.220 - Supplemental Health Insurance Panel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Supplemental Health Insurance Panel. 403.220... Programs § 403.220 Supplemental Health Insurance Panel. (a) Membership. The Supplemental Health Insurance... determines whether or not a State regulatory program for Medicare supplemental health insurance policies...

  17. Duty to provide pre-contractual information of crop insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivančević Katarina

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Crop insurance is one of the most important types of agricultural insurance. From the aspect of insurance technique, this insurance is very challenging and requires careful drafting of insurance terms and tariffs. This type of insurance can provide security to farmers in case of financial losses caused by numerous risks which they are exposed to. Insufficient knowledge of the opportunities that the insurance provides is caused in part by inaccurate and vague explanations that have been offered by insurers in negotiation stage to interested farmers. In this regard, an important novelty in Serbian law is the obligation of contractual information which was introduced by the new Insurance Law (IL. In this way, additional protection to users of the service of insurance in relation to the provisions of the obligation law is provided. The goal of this obligation is to allow a negotiator to gain a clear idea of the essential elements of the insurance contract, to consider the proposed coverage and make a reasonable decision whether to accept the conclusion of the insurance contract or not, i.e. under what conditions it should be concluded. Sanctions for failure in the obligation to inform act preventively and repressively on insurers. The aim of this study is analyse the legal and factual position of the service beneficiaries in terms of obligation of economically and experientially superior contractor of lawful and full information of a policyholder prior to the conclusion of an insurance contract in a very specific branch of insurance, such as crop insurance. The application of inductive-deductive and comparative-legal research method, points to certain doctrinal and normative solutions from other legal systems, legal provisions applicable in the law of the Republic of Serbia are critically set out, as well as the daily practice of insurance companies.

  18. 26 CFR 1.821-3 - Tax on mutual insurance companies other than life or marine or fire insurance companies subject...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... life or marine or fire insurance companies subject to the tax imposed by section 831. 1.821-3 Section 1... and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of Perpetual Policies Or Premium Deposits) § 1.821-3 Tax on mutual insurance companies other than life or marine or fire insurance...

  19. 26 CFR 1.821-1 - Tax on mutual insurance companies other than life or marine or fire insurance companies subject...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... life or marine or fire insurance companies subject to the tax imposed by section 831. 1.821-1 Section 1... and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of Perpetual Policies Or Premium Deposits) § 1.821-1 Tax on mutual insurance companies other than life or marine or fire insurance...

  20. Global warming and the insurance industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berz, G. A.

    1992-06-01

    In the last few decades, the international insurance industry has been confronted with a drastic increase in the scope and frequency of great natural disasters. The trend is primarily attributable to the continuing steady growth of the world population and the increasing concentration of people and economic values in urban areas. An additional factor is the global migration of populations and industries into areas like the coastal regions which are particularly exposed to natural hazards. The natural hazards themselves, on the other hand, have not yet shown any significant increase. In addition to the problems the insurance industry has with regard to pricing, capacity and loss reserves, the assessment of insured liabilities, preventive planning and the proper adjustment of catastrophe losses are gaining importance. The present problems will be dramatically aggravated if the greenhouse predictions come true. The increased intensity of all convective processes in the atmosphere will force up the frequency and severity of tropical cyclones, tornados, hailstorms, floods and storm surges in many parts of the world with serious consequences for all types of property insurance. Rates will have to be raised and in certain coastal areas insurance coverage will only be available after considerable restrictions have been imposed, e.g., significant deductibles and/or liability or loss limits. In areas of high insurance density the loss potential of individual catastrophes can reach a level where the national and international insurance industries run into serious capacity problems. Recent disasters showed the disproportionately high participation of reinsurers in extreme disaster losses and the need for more risk transparency if the insurance industry is to fulfill its obligations in an increasingly hostile environment.

  1. Miles, speed, and technology: Traffic safety under oligopolistic insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dementieva, M.; Verhoef, E.T.

    2016-01-01

    We study road safety when insurance companies have market power, and can influence drivers' behavior via insurance premiums. We obtain first- and second-best premiums for different insurance market structures. The insurance program consists of an insurance premium, and marginal dependencies of that

  2. FINANCIAL STABILITY OF INSURANCE AND ITS SOURCES OF SUPPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Pikus

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The article describes theoretical aspects of determination of financial stability of insurance companies of Ukraine. It was found the main factors that influence the financial stability of insurance companies. Influencing factors are classified into internal and external and the effects of these factors on insurers' activities are presented. The main criteria of financial stability of insurance companies were deeply analysed and the most significant were chosen: sufficient amount of equity capital, the optimal tariff policy, balanced insurance portfolio, secure and effective reinsurance program, sufficient amount of insurance reserves for future payments, optimal investment management of insurance reserves and high solvency of an insurance company. Basic directions of provision and maintenance of financial stability of insurance companies in post-crisis period were presented. The main problems of provision and maintenance of financial stability of insurance companies were outlined and recommendations for its strengthening were provided.

  3. 7 CFR 457.166 - Blueberry crop insurance provisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Blueberry crop insurance provisions. 457.166 Section... CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COMMON CROP INSURANCE REGULATIONS § 457.166 Blueberry crop insurance provisions. The Blueberry Crop Insurance Provisions for the 2005 and succeeding crop years are as follows...

  4. 75 FR 80678 - Conversions of Insured Credit Unions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-23

    ... final rule with request for comments. SUMMARY: NCUA is issuing final amendments to revise the definition... Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) share insurance to nonfederal share insurance in 12 CFR part...-credit union mergers and terminations of NCUSIF share insurance and conversions from NCUSIF share...

  5. 33 CFR 135.207 - Insurance as evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...) MARINE POLLUTION FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMPENSATION OFFSHORE OIL POLLUTION COMPENSATION FUND... the Fund Administrator as evidence of financial responsibility shall be issued by an insurer that is acceptable to the Fund Administrator. Those insurers may include domestic and foreign insurance companies...

  6. Limits of insurability; Grenzen der Versicherbarkeit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haerig, Michael [Marsh GmbH, Duesseldorf (Germany)

    2008-07-01

    Companies of the energy industry are facing risks which only insufficiently can be covered with classical insurance solutions. In particular, further developments and new technologies confront operators of power stations with challenges to attain a sufficient insurance protection. By means of a comprehensive risk management and insurance management tailor-made, convincing solutions and concepts are possible. The contribution under consideration exemplary presents some selected topics.

  7. 7 CFR 457.142 - Northern potato crop insurance provisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Northern potato crop insurance provisions. 457.142... INSURANCE CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COMMON CROP INSURANCE REGULATIONS § 457.142 Northern potato crop insurance provisions. The Northern Potato Crop Insurance Provisions for the 2008 and succeeding...

  8. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INSURANCE SALES SUPPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stofor Ovidiu-Ilie

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Insurance system in Romania is carried out with a constant natural activity, evolving quite honorably these times. This is largely due to the difficulty with which insurance is sold in normal economic conditions when it comes to prosperity. Although psychologists, led by Maslow believes that the protection needs are basic needs, along with the physiological one, on the priority list regarding procurement, insurance needs are for some Romanians, of minimum or no importance, so that they are either pushed to the bottom of the list, or even, as it most often happens, they are non existent. Current economic conditions and climate, urges caution on most fields, especially in terms of individual properties, including, how somewhat forced, life and physical integrity which are still considered property, if this aspect is not debated in terms of Christian or other religious dogma. In other words, many Romanians see insurance as a product that “is not up their alley” including it in the luxury category. Furthermore, the media shows, sometimes amplify certain cases of doubt in relations between insurance company - customer. Appropriate marketing, allied with the information technology can improve the complete relationship between the two entities - the offeror and the consumer. Through this study we aim to identify important issues that facilitate the sale of insurance, using information technology, given that the sales of these financial products through the "ancestral" methods are effective but not very efficient. We will follow, byanchoring to the current reality, the insurance utility and how to use information technologies in support of marketing (sales. The study itself was done by observing the results in practical work, from an insurance agency, but also related to what the literature offers. Because this study is currently underway, there are certainly some limitations of accuracy of results, which are adjusted "on the fly". Realizing

  9. 44 CFR 61.17 - Group Flood Insurance Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... U.S.C. 5174) of an Individuals and Households Program (IHP) award for flood damage as a result of... flood-damage losses sustained by the insured property in the course of any subsequent flooding event..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION National Flood Insurance Program INSURANCE...

  10. 7 CFR 457.162 - Nursery crop insurance provisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Nursery crop insurance provisions. 457.162 Section 457... CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COMMON CROP INSURANCE REGULATIONS § 457.162 Nursery crop insurance provisions. The Nursery Crop Insurance Provisions for the 2006 and succeeding crop years are as follows: FCIC...

  11. 7 CFR 457.123 - Almond crop insurance provisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Almond crop insurance provisions. 457.123 Section 457... CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COMMON CROP INSURANCE REGULATIONS § 457.123 Almond crop insurance provisions. The Almond Crop Insurance Provisions for the 2008 and succeeding crop years are as follows: FCIC...

  12. HOUSING INSURANCE IN ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FLOREA IANC MARIA MIRABELA

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Last few years have shown that Romania is not protected from the consequences of climate change. It is clear that type flood events may cause social problems and losses is difficult financing from public resources, especially in the context of the existence of budget constraints. The only viable system to cope with such disasters is insurance system that has the ability to spread risks by reinsurance Natural disasters - earthquakes, floods, landslides - are just some of the risks that may threaten your home. And if natural disasters can seem distant danger, think as fires, floods caused by broken pipes or theft of household goods are trouble can happen anytime to anyone. To protect yourself in such unpleasant situations, whose frequency is unfortunately on the rise, it is necessary to be assured. Thus, you will be able to recover losses in the event that they occur. The house is undoubtedly one of the most important assets we own. Therefore, the Romans began to pay increasingly more attention to domestic insurance products. Since 2011, voluntary home insurance, life insurance with, were the most dynamic segments of the market.

  13. The Carboxysome and Other Bacterial Microcompartments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kerfeld, Cheryl A.; Greenleaf, William B.; Kinney, James N.

    2010-06-23

    - Carboxysomes are part of the carbon concentrating mechanism in cyanobacteria and chemoautotrophs. - Carboxysomes are a subclass of bacterial microcompartments (BMCs); BMCs can encapsulate a range of metabolic processes. - Like some viral particles, the carboxysome can be modeled as an icosahedron-in its case, having 4,000-5,000 hexameric shell subunits and 12 surface pentamers to generate curvature. - The threefold axis of symmetry of the CsoS1D protein in carboxysomes forms a pore that can open and close, allowing for selective diffusion. - Genetic modules encoding BMC shell proteins and the enzymes that they encapsulate are horizontally transferable, suggesting they enable bacteria to adapt to diverse environments.

  14. Global loss diversification in the insurance sector

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sheremet, O.; Lucas, A.

    2009-01-01

    We study the possibility for international diversification of catastrophe risk by the insurance sector. Adopting the argument that large insurance losses may be a 'globalizing factor' for the industry, we study the dependence of geographically distant insurance markets via equity returns. In

  15. Financial Planning and the Life Insurance Agency

    OpenAIRE

    Robert Puelz

    1992-01-01

    In this article, the effects of fee-for-service personal financial planning on the decision making of a profit-maximizing life insurance general agent are examined. Three refutable propositions are developed which implicate the movements of the general agent who must adjust to a new optimal profit-maximizing allocation of financial planning, personal insurance sales, and agent insurance sales when there is a change in one of the fee or commission rate parameters. It is demonstrated that insur...

  16. Performance measurement and insurance liabilities

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plantinga, A; Huijgen, C

    2001-01-01

    In this article, the authors develop an attribution framework for evaluating the investment performance of institutional investors such as insurance companies. The model is useful in identifying the investment skills of insurance companies. This is accomplished by developing a dual benchmark for the

  17. Nuclear Insurance Pools: Worldwide Practice and Development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reitsma, S. M. S.

    1998-01-01

    The development of nuclear installations to produce electricity led to the establishment of Nuclear Insurance Pools and the introduction of international Conventions on Third Party Liability. Nuclear Pools offer both Third Party Liability insurance, reflecting the Conventions' principles, and other insurance products. They are market-wide, providing a facility for participation by insurers who could not otherwise write the insurance for the particularly sensitive nuclear risk. All acceptances are for the net retention of each Member without recourse to individual reinsurance protection. Common account reinsurance is arranged with other Nuclear Pools all over the world. Thus, a transparency is created, which ensures the highest degree of reinsurance security and imposes a known finite limit to each participating insurer's commitment. Therefore, Pool-members are prepared to make a greater commitment to nuclear risks than would be case where they felt uncertain as regards their total exposure following a significant loss. (author)

  18. What causes the spatial heterogeneity of bacterial flora in the intestine of zebrafish larvae?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jinyou; Shimogonya, Yuji; Ishikawa, Takuji

    2018-06-07

    Microbial flora in the intestine has been thoroughly investigated, as it plays an important role in the health of the host. Jemielita et al. (2014) showed experimentally that Aeromonas bacteria in the intestine of zebrafish larvae have a heterogeneous spatial distribution. Although bacterial aggregation is important biologically and clinically, there is no mathematical model describing the phenomenon and its mechanism remains largely unknown. In this study, we developed a computational model to describe the heterogeneous distribution of bacteria in the intestine of zebrafish larvae. The results showed that biological taxis could cause the bacterial aggregation. Intestinal peristalsis had the effect of reducing bacterial aggregation through mixing function. Using a scaling argument, we showed that the taxis velocity of bacteria must be larger than the sum of the diffusive velocity and background bulk flow velocity to induce bacterial aggregation. Our model and findings will be useful to further the scientific understanding of intestinal microbial flora. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. 46 CFR 309.4 - Maximum amount insured.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS VALUES FOR WAR RISK INSURANCE... Administration will provide war risk hull insurance for damage to or actual or constructive total loss of the... Administration with respect to insurance attaching during the effective period of such valuation under the...

  20. Consumer price sensitivity in Dutch health insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. van Dijk (Machiel); M. Pomp (Marc); R.C.H.M. Douven (Rudy); T. Laske-Aldershof (Trea); F.T. Schut (Erik); W. de Boer (Willem); A. Boo (Anne)

    2008-01-01

    textabstractAim: To estimate the price sensitivity of consumer choice of health insurance firm. Method: Using paneldata of the flows of insured betweenpairs of Dutch sickness funds during the period 1993-2002, we estimate the sensitivity of these flows to differences in insurance premium. Results:

  1. 3 CFR - State Children's Health Insurance Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 3 The President 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false State Children's Health Insurance Program... Insurance Program Memorandum for the Secretary of Health and Human Services The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) encourages States to provide health coverage for uninsured children in families...

  2. MARKET INSURANCE AND RISKS IN THIS FIELD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ersilia Catrina

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The insurance market can be considered a market where all sorts of anomalies can be encountered or a current acquisition for a situation considered to be certain or relative future, depending on the type of insurance. For the most part, assurance is based on a premise, a hypothesis that is generally based on several factors of influence. Generally, the most important factors in making such a decision are generated by the human-sensitive factor or the economicprotective. Therefore, by joining the insurance market and purchasing any kind of insurance, we must also take into account the risks that arise from these products. Generally, most people perceive these insurance policies in different areas as a future guarantee without considering additional elements that can highlight risk elements that may alter the expected outcome of the acquirer. An important element to mitigate these risks would be the implementation and use of internal control over the supply chain, control that would make a difference between an activity under normal, predictable and legal conditions and a random activity with many elements of risk that can cause major damage to those involved, and to the insurer and the insured. Through this paper, the author aimed to highlight the importance of internal control in insurance companies, as well as the consequences of the lack of internal control within these societies

  3. The underwriting process of liability insurance in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anderson, S. E.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Liability risks may embody far-reaching financial consequences for individuals, business enterprises and professional people. This paper focuses on the underwriting process which should be taken into consideration by short-term insurers when they are underwriting the main types of liability insurance, which include employer’s, householder’s, personal, product, professional and public liability insurance. The improvement of financial decision-making by short-term insurers when underwriting liability insurance represents the objective of this research. A study of secondary data was done to identify the existing literature, which formed the basis for compiling a questionnaire to obtain primary data. The top 10 short-term insurers which are the market leaders of liability insurance in South Africa and who received more than 85% of the annual gross written premiums for liability insurance in South Africa, represented the sample of the empirical study. This paper highlights the importance of the underwriting factors concerning liability insurance, how often the stipulations of insurance policies should be adjusted by the short-term insurers to account for the underwriting factors, as well as the problem areas which the underwriters may experience when they are underwriting liability insurance. Possible solutions to solve the problem areas were also addressed

  4. Basic characteristics of livestock insurance in Serbia: With reference to the some elements of this type of insurance in some non-European and European countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Čolović Vladimir

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The livestock insurance is a part of agricultural insurance. This type of insurance is also part of a non-life insurance. The livestock insurance is undeveloped in Serbia. In general, a very small number of farms (5% of total decided for the conclusion of livestock insurance contracts. This paper analyzes the basic characteristics of this type of insurance, and the authors pay attention to the implementation of this type of insurance in other countries. Special attention is paid to the livestock insurance in Mongolia, India, Mexico and Ireland who are defined livestock insurance programs that have contributed to a greater number of contracts concluded in this field. Also, the authors speaking about livestock insurance in some European countries. Finally, the authors criticize the way in which is regulated livestock insurance in Serbia, by proposing a series of measures that should be implemented by the insurance companies and state.

  5. Factors affecting the insurance sector development: Evidence from Albania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eglantina Zyka

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we explore factors potentially affecting the size of Albanian insurance market, over the period 1999 to 2009. The results of co- integration regression show that GDP and fraction urban population, both one lagged value, size of population and paid claims, both at contemporary value, have significant positive effect on aggregate insurance premium in Albania while the market share of the largest company in the insurance market, one lagged value, has significant negative effect on aggregate insurance premiums. Granger causality test shows statistically significance contribution of GDP growth to insurance premium growth, GDP drives insurance premium growth but not vice versa. The Albanian insurance market is under development, indicators as: insurance penetration, premium per capita, ect are still at low level and this can justify the insignificant role of the insurance in the economy

  6. Patient Satisfaction with Primary Health Care – A Comparison between the Insured and Non-Insured under the National Health Insurance Policy in Ghana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenny, Ama P.; Enemark, Ulrika; Asante, Felix A.; Hansen, Kristian S.

    2014-01-01

    Ghana has initiated various health sector reforms over the past decades aimed at strengthening institutions, improving the overall health system and increasing access to healthcare services by all groups of people. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) instituted in 2005, is an innovative system aimed at making health care more accessible to people who need it. Currently, there is a growing amount of concern about the capacity of the NHIS to make quality health care accessible to its clients. A number of studies have concentrated on the effect of health insurance status on demand for health services, but have been quiet on supply side issues. The main aim of this study is to examine the overall satisfaction with health care among the insured and uninsured under the NHIS. The second aim is to explore the relations between overall satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics, health insurance and the various dimensions of quality of care. This study employs logistic regression using household survey data in three districts in Ghana covering the 3 ecological zones (coastal, forest and savannah). It identifies the service quality factors that are important to patients’ satisfaction and examines their links to their health insurance status. The results indicate that a higher proportion of insured patients are satisfied with the overall quality of care compared to the uninsured. The key predictors of overall satisfaction are waiting time, friendliness of staff and satisfaction of the consultation process. These results highlight the importance of interpersonal care in health care facilities. Feedback from patients’ perception of health services and satisfaction surveys improve the quality of care provided and therefore effort must be made to include these findings in future health policies. PMID:24999137

  7. 12 CFR 740.3 - Advertising of excess insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Advertising of excess insurance. 740.3 Section... ACCURACY OF ADVERTISING AND NOTICE OF INSURED STATUS § 740.3 Advertising of excess insurance. Any advertising that mentions share or savings account insurance provided by a party other than the NCUA must...

  8. Can universal access be achieved in a voluntary private health insurance market? Dutch private insurers caught between competing logics.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vonk, Robert A A; Schut, Frederik T

    2018-01-01

    For almost a century, the Netherlands was marked by a large market for voluntary private health insurance alongside state-regulated social health insurance. Throughout this period, private health insurers tried to safeguard their position within an expanding welfare state. From an institutional

  9. Financial and operational ratios for bond-insured hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCue, Michael J; McCluer, R Forrest

    2008-01-01

    Few, if any, researchers have analyzed the performance indicators of companies that offer bond insurance to hospitals and healthcare systems. The authors of this study analyzed the key financial and operational indicators of independent hospitals and hospitals within large multihospital systems that are insured by the 5 major bond insurance companies. The authors examined 87 insured bond issues; the results of this study show that some insurers cover healthcare facilities that have strong operational traits and others focus on financial factors.

  10. 14 CFR 198.13 - Premium insurance-payment of premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Premium insurance-payment of premiums. 198... (CONTINUED) WAR RISK INSURANCE AVIATION INSURANCE § 198.13 Premium insurance—payment of premiums. The insured must pay the premium for insurance issued under this part within the stated period after receipt of...

  11. Divorce and women's risk of health insurance loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavelle, Bridget; Smock, Pamela J

    2012-01-01

    This article bridges the literatures on the economic consequences of divorce for women with that on marital transitions and health by focusing on women's health insurance. Using a monthly calendar of marital status and health insurance coverage from 1,442 women in the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine how women's health insurance changes after divorce. Our estimates suggest that roughly 115,000 American women lose private health insurance annually in the months following divorce and that roughly 65,000 of these women become uninsured. The loss of insurance coverage we observe is not just a short-term disruption. Women's rates of insurance coverage remain depressed for more than two years after divorce. Insurance loss may compound the economic losses women experience after divorce and contribute to as well as compound previously documented health declines following divorce.

  12. DIVORCE AND WOMEN'S RISK OF HEALTH INSURANCE LOSS*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavelle, Bridget; Smock, Pamela J.

    2012-01-01

    This article bridges the literatures on the economic consequences of divorce for women with that on marital transitions and health by focusing on women's health insurance. Using a monthly calendar of marital status and health insurance coverage from 1,442 women in the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine how women's health insurance changes after divorce. Our estimates suggest that roughly 115,000 American women lose private health insurance annually in the months following divorce and that roughly 65,000 of these women become uninsured. The loss of insurance coverage we observe is not just a short-term disruption. Women's rates of insurance coverage remain depressed for more than two years after divorce. Insurance loss may compound the economic losses women experience after divorce, and contribute to as well as compound previously documented health declines following divorce. PMID:23147653

  13. Distribution channels of insurance and reinsurance services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Njegomir Vladimir

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Insurance and reinsurance industry is famous for its traditionalism, that is uninventiveness and neglecting of marketing as business concept and function and by doing so, neglecting opportunities for optimal combination of different distribution channels. However, having in mind Drucker's thesis that only marketing and innovations produce results and that everything else are costs, that applies to all businesses including insurance and reinsurance companies, it is clear that they need to change their way of managing business. Keeping current and attracting new customers, by using optimal combination of marketing mix elements and within its scope by creating optimal mix of distribution channels, as business requirement and objective of insurance and reinsurance companies with strong marketing orientation that leads them to fulfillment of primary objective of their existence - making profit, is becoming specially emphasized with opening of domestic insurance and reinsurance market to foreign competitors with long history of gaining high level of customers' loyalty. Besides that, issues of successful distribution channels' management of insurance and reinsurance services are not treated holistically in domestic literature. Distribution channels of insurance and reinsurance services, as this study shows, are of critical importance for business success of insurance and reinsurance companies.

  14. Insurance against nuclear risks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dow, J.C.

    1976-01-01

    Virtually any type of nuclear risk is insurable in principle, providing, of course, that the necessary standards of safety and control are met. Some of the risks are of a relatively minor character and no more hazardous than a simple conventional risk. But insurers would not consider as a minor risk anything which involves the use of nuclear fuel or other nuclear materials which are in a critical state or capable of releasing dangerous levels of radioactivity. These would include nuclear reactors or, indeed, any type of assembly which can not be regarded as subcritical. Most insurers would also regard installations involved in the manufacturing, processing and enriching of nuclear fuel, and certainly those concerned with the reprocessing of irradiated fuel and plutonium extraction, as major risks. (HP) [de

  15. 77 FR 60304 - Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance-Slayer's Rule Exclusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-03

    ... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 38 CFR Part 9 RIN 2900-AN40 Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance--Slayer's Rule Exclusion AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its regulations...

  16. ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT STATE OF INSURANCE MARKET IN UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melnyk Olga

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Modern insurance companies provide the formation of effective market mechanisms for attracting investment resources to the national economy through the effective functioning of the insurance market with the use of modern market infrastructure and financial instruments. In Ukraine, the insurance market has a significant development potential, which requires, first of all, a detailed assessment of all available opportunities for balanced development in the context of European integration processes. Therefore, the identification and analysis of modern trends in the development of the insurance market are relevant today from theoretical and practical points of view. The purpose of the study is to analyze the current state of the insurance market in Ukraine and determine the factors affecting the effectiveness of its activities. Results. It was defined that the insurance market is the second largest in terms of capitalization among other non-bank financial markets in Ukraine. The tendencies of changes in the main indicators of the insurance market activity, in particular regarding the number of concluded insurance contracts, insurance premiums and insurance payments, reinsurance, insurance reserves, insurers’ assets and authorized capital, were investigated. It was found that the increase in gross insurance premiums was made for almost all types of insurance, and the increase of gross insurance premiums was mainly due to auto insurance, medical insurance and financial risk insurance. Nowadays, the level of insurance penetration in Ukraine is still low. However, according to the Comprehensive Program for the Development of the Financial Sector of Ukraine, a gradual increase of this indicator is planned. Conclusions. The conducted studies indicate that the insurance market of Ukraine is at the stage of formation, gradually adapting to the requirements of European and world markets. In order to improve the situation, domestic insurers

  17. 7 CFR 550.39 - Equipment replacement insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Equipment replacement insurance. 550.39 Section 550.39... Agreements Equipment/property Standards § 550.39 Equipment replacement insurance. If required by the terms and conditions of the award, the Cooperator shall provide adequate insurance coverage for replacement...

  18. 24 CFR 213.266 - Initial insurance endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Initial insurance endorsement. 213... insurance endorsement. The Commissioner shall indicate his insurance of the mortgage or supplementary loan by endorsing the original credit instrument and identifying the section of the Act and the...

  19. Stochastic Cooperative Games in Insurance and Reinsurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Suijs, J.P.M.; De Waegenaere, A.M.B.; Borm, P.E.M.

    1996-01-01

    This paper shows how problems in `non life'-insurance and `non life'-reinsurance can be modelled simultaneously as cooperative games with stochastic payoffs.Pareto optimal allocations of the risks faced by the insurers and the insureds are determined.It is shown that the core of the corresponding

  20. Estimating workers' marginal valuation of employer health benefits: would insured workers prefer more health insurance or higher wages?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royalty, Anne Beeson

    2008-01-01

    In recent years the cost of health insurance has been increasing much faster than wages. In the face of these rising costs, many employers will have to make difficult decisions about whether to cut back health benefits or to compensate workers with lower wages or lower wage growth. In this paper, we ask the question, "Which do workers value more -- one additional dollar's worth of health benefits or one more dollar in their pockets?" Using a new approach to obtaining estimates of insured workers' marginal valuation of health benefits this paper estimates how much, on average, employees value the marginal dollar paid by employers for their workers' health insurance. We find that insured workers value the marginal health premium dollar at significantly less than the marginal wage dollar. However, workers value insurance generosity very highly. The marginal dollar spent on health insurance that adds an additional dollar's worth of observable dimensions of plan generosity, such as lower deductibles or coverage of additional services, is valued at significantly more than one dollar.

  1. National health insurance reform in South Africa: estimating the implications for demand for private health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okorafor, Okore Apia

    2012-05-01

    A recent health reform proposal in South Africa proposes universal access to a comprehensive package of healthcare services in the public sector, through the implementation of a national health insurance (NHI) scheme. Implementation of the scheme is likely to involve the introduction of a payroll tax. It is implied that the introduction of the payroll tax will significantly reduce the size of the private health insurance market. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of an NHI payroll tax on the demand for private health insurance in South Africa, and to explore the broader implications for health policy. The study applies probit regression analysis on household survey data to estimate the change in demand for private health insurance as a result of income shocks arising from the proposed NHI. The introduction of payroll taxes for the proposed NHI was estimated to result in a reduction to private health insurance membership of 0.73%. This suggests inelasticity in the demand for private health insurance. In the literature on the subject, this inelasticity is usually due to quality differences between alternatives. In the South African context, there may be other factors at play. An NHI tax may have a very small impact on the demand for private health insurance. Although additional financial resources will be raised through a payroll tax under the proposed NHI reform, systemic problems within the South African health system can adversely affect the ability of the NHI to translate additional finances into better quality healthcare. If these systemic challenges are not adequately addressed, the introduction of a payroll tax could introduce inefficiencies within the South African health system.

  2. Private health insurance and access to healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duggal, Ravi

    2011-01-01

    The health insurance business in India has seen a growth of over 25% per annum in the last few years with the expansion of the private health insurance sector. The premium incomes of health insurance have crossed the Rs 8,000 crore mark with the share of private companies increasing to over 41%. This is despite the fact that from the perspective of patients, health insurance is not a good deal, especially when they need it most. This raises a number of ethical issues regarding how the health insurance business runs and how medical practice adjusts to it for profiteering. This article uses the personal experience of the author to argue that health insurance in an unregulated environment can only lead to unethical practices, further victimising the patient. Further, publicly financed healthcare which operates in an environment regulating both public and private healthcare provisioning is the only way to assure access to ethical and equitable healthcare to people.

  3. Nuclear liability insurance: a resume of recent years

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marrone, J.

    1975-01-01

    The nuclear liability-insurance pools have steadily increased nuclear liability insurance available to the nuclear industry to its present $125 million, which is more than double the $60 million first provided in 1957. The insurance pools also provide an additional $175 million of all-risk property insurance to protect against loss of property at a nuclear facility, for a total of $300 million. This amount of liability and property insurance available for nuclear risks exceeds the coverage the insurance industry has at risk anywhere on a single unit of risk, thus attesting to the confidence in nuclear safety. The extraordinary safety achieved and recorded by the loss experience of the nuclear pools is described. The insurance pools have proposed a change in the Price--Anderson Act which would provide substantial additional sums of nuclear liability insurance to protect the public and which is likely to be the subject of examination by Congress during 1975. The proposal, if implemented, will gradually increase the protection afforded to the public and virtually eliminate the role of government indemnity. (auth)

  4. Nuclear insurance risk assessment using risk-based methodology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wendland, W.G.

    1992-01-01

    This paper presents American Nuclear Insurers' (ANI's) and Mutual Atomic Energy Liability Underwriters' (MAELU's) process and experience for conducting nuclear insurance risk assessments using a risk-based methodology. The process is primarily qualitative and uses traditional insurance risk assessment methods and an approach developed under the auspices of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in which ANI/MAELU is an active sponsor. This process assists ANI's technical resources in identifying where to look for insurance risk in an industry in which insurance exposure tends to be dynamic and nonactuarial. The process is an evolving one that also seeks to minimize the impact on insureds while maintaining a mutually agreeable risk tolerance

  5. Modeling of the Bacillus subtilis Bacterial Biofilm Growing on an Agar Substrate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoling Wang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Bacterial biofilms are organized communities composed of millions of microorganisms that accumulate on almost any kinds of surfaces. In this paper, a biofilm growth model on an agar substrate is developed based on mass conservation principles, Fick’s first law, and Monod’s kinetic reaction, by considering nutrient diffusion between biofilm and agar substrate. Our results show biofilm growth evolution characteristics such as biofilm thickness, active biomass, and nutrient concentration in the agar substrate. We quantitatively obtain biofilm growth dependence on different parameters. We provide an alternative mathematical method to describe other kinds of biofilm growth such as multiple bacterial species biofilm and also biofilm growth on various complex substrates.

  6. 7 CFR 2201.24 - Insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Insurance. 2201.24 Section 2201.24 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE BOARD LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM-PROGRAM REGULATIONS Loan Guarantees § 2201.24 Insurance. The Borrower of a...

  7. Business Cycle Dependent Unemployment Insurance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Torben M.; Svarer, Michael

    The consequences of business cycle contingencies in unemployment insurance systems are considered in a search-matching model allowing for shifts between "good" and "bad" states of nature. We show that not only is there an insurance argument for such contingencies, but there may also be an incentive...

  8. 46 CFR Sec. 13 - Insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... REPAIRS UNDER NATIONAL SHIPPING AUTHORITY MASTER LUMP SUM REPAIR CONTRACT-NSA-LUMPSUMREP Sec. 13 Insurance. Article 9 of the NSA-LUMPSUMREP Contract sets forth the Contractor's liabilities and obligations with... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Insurance. Sec. 13 Section 13 Shipping MARITIME...

  9. Insurer Provide Rating Software and Competitive Advantage: An Evaluation Based on BOP Insurance Applications at Wisconsin Agencies

    OpenAIRE

    Thomas A. Aiuppa; William E. Wehrs

    1993-01-01

    This research examines whether a competitive advantage exists for insurers which provide independent agencies with rating software to generate price quotes. Data relative to the Business Owners line of insurance were collected from several Wisconsin agencies which represent several BOP insurers, some of which provide software for rating BOP applications. The results indicate that providing rating software did not increase insurers’ business volumes, but may decrease their underwriting costs. ...

  10. Impact of community-based health insurance in rural India on self-medication & financial protection of the insured

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David M Dror

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background & objectives: The evidence-base of the impact of community-based health insurance (CBHI on access to healthcare and financial protection in India is weak. We investigated the impact of CBHI in rural Uttar Pradesh and Bihar s0 tates of India on insured households′ self-medication and financial position. Methods: Data originated from (i household surveys, and (ii the Management Information System of each CBHI. Study design was "staggered implementation" cluster randomized controlled trial with enrollment of one-third of the treatment group in each of the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. Around 40-50 per cent of the households that were offered to enroll joined. The benefits-packages covered outpatient care in all three locations and in-patient care in two locations. To overcome self-selection enrollment bias, we constructed comparable control and treatment groups using Kernel Propensity Score Matching (K-PSM. To quantify impact, both difference-in-difference (DiD, and conditional-DiD (combined K-PSM with DiD were used to assess robustness of results. Results: Post-intervention (2013, self-medication was less practiced by insured HHs. Fewer insured households than uninsured households reported borrowing to finance care for non-hospitalization events. Being insured for two years also improved the HH′s location along the income distribution, namely insured HHs were more likely to experience income quintile-upgrade in one location, and less likely to experience a quintile-downgrade in two locations. Interpretation & conclusions: The realized benefits of insurance included better access to healthcare, reduced financial risks and improved economic mobility, suggesting that in our context health insurance creates welfare gains. These findings have implications for theoretical, ethical, policy and practice considerations.

  11. 24 CFR 203.256 - Insurance of open-end advance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Insurance § 203.256 Insurance of open-end advance. Insurance on an open-end advance will be evidenced by delivery of a certificate stating the amount of the advance, the date of insurance, and the regulations... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Insurance of open-end advance. 203...

  12. SIMULATION OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY’S MARKETING STRATEGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    О. Klepikova

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted the development of marketing strategy of the insurance company with using of mathematical modeling of structures. The algorithm was developed for calculating the coefficient of “probability of insurance policy acquisition” which accumulates the influence of factors related to the feature of providing insurance services and financial activities of the insurance company.

  13. Health insurance, cost expectations, and adverse job turnover.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Randall P; Albert Ma, Ching-To

    2011-01-01

    Because less healthy employees value health insurance more than the healthy ones, when health insurance is newly offered job turnover rates for healthier employees decline less than turnover rates for the less healthy. We call this adverse job turnover, and it implies that a firm's expected health costs will increase when health insurance is first offered. Health insurance premiums may fail to adjust sufficiently fast because state regulations restrict annual premium changes, or insurers are reluctant to change premiums rapidly. Even with premiums set at the long run expected costs, some firms may be charged premiums higher than their current expected costs and choose not to offer insurance. High administrative costs at small firms exacerbate this dynamic selection problem. Using 1998-1999 MEDSTAT MarketScan and 1997 Employer Health Insurance Survey data, we find that expected employee health expenditures at firms that offer insurance have lower within-firm and higher between-firm variance than at firms that do not. Turnover rates are systematically higher in industries in which firms are less likely to offer insurance. Simulations of the offer decision capturing between-firm health-cost heterogeneity and expected turnover rates match the observed pattern across firm sizes well. 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. Specific aspects of insurance of nuclear risks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Angelici, C.

    1980-03-01

    The following questions are discussed in connection with the insurance of nuclear risks: insurance techniques, the nuclear operator's limitation of liability in amount and in time, its channelling, the principle of sole liability and exonerations, the insurers' position, the cover provided and state intervention beyond that amount. (NEA) [fr

  15. 12 CFR 618.8040 - Authorized insurance services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... association, to accept or reject such insurance. (b) Bank and association board policies governing the... by receipt of commissions or gifts from underwriting insurance companies. However, employees may... extension of credit or provision of other service on the purchase of insurance sold or endorsed by a bank or...

  16. 78 FR 14034 - Health Insurance Providers Fee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-04

    ... Health Insurance Providers Fee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of... insurance for United States health risks. This fee is imposed by section 9010 of the Patient Protection and... insurance for United States health risks. DATES: Written or electronic comments must be received by June 3...

  17. 24 CFR 241.1030 - Mortgage insurance premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mortgage insurance premiums. 241... Loans-Eligibility Requirements § 241.1030 Mortgage insurance premiums. The lender, upon endorsement of the note, shall pay the Commissioner a first mortgage insurance premium equal to 0.5 percent of the...

  18. Development of Investment Activities of Commercial Insurance Companies in Slovak, Czech and Austrian Insurance Markets in 2004-2009

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek Meheš

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The contribution deals with investments of commercial insurance companies operating in Slovak, Czech and Austrian insurance market in the period of 2004–2009. First of all, development of technical reserves volume as an important prerequisite of investing of commercial insurance companies will be characterized. After that, we evaluate financial placements and investment activities – ratio of total investments and technical reserves. We also present statistical tests by means of which we examine the existence of the relation between the volume of technical reserves and the volume of investments of commercial insurance companies.

  19. Insurance payment process for HANDI 2000 business management system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilson, D.

    1998-08-24

    The Pensions and Savings group handles three types of payment into and out of Fluor Daniel Hanford related to insurance benefits: Premium payment to insurance company; Application of employee insurance withholding against insurance costs; Remittance of insurance claims, and administrative fees. General approach in making and recording the remittance is by forwarding payment information to Accounts Payable Master.

  20. EXPERT SYSTEMS - DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE TOOL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NAN Anca-Petruţa

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Because of the fact that specialty agricultural assistance is not always available when the farmers need it, we identified expert systems as a strong instrument with an extended potential in agriculture. This started to grow in scale recently, including all socially-economic activity fields, having the role of collecting data regarding different aspects from human experts with the purpose of assisting the user in the necessary steps for solving problems, at the performance level of the expert, making his acquired knowledge and experience available. We opted for a general presentation of the expert systems as well as their necessity, because, the solution to develop the agricultural system can come from artificial intelligence by implementing the expert systems in the field of agricultural insurance, promoting existing insurance products, farmers finding options in depending on their necessities and possibilities. The objective of this article consists of collecting data about different aspects about specific areas of interest of agricultural insurance, preparing the database, a conceptual presentation of a pilot version which will become constantly richer depending on the answers received from agricultural producers, with the clearest exposure of knowledgebase possible. We can justify picking this theme with the fact that even while agricultural insurance plays a very important role in agricultural development, the registered result got from them are modest, reason why solutions need to be found in the scope of developing the agricultural sector. The importance of this consists in the proposal of an immediate viable solution to correspond with the current necessities of agricultural producers and in the proposal of an innovative solution, namely the implementation of expert system in agricultural insurance as a way of promoting insurance products. Our research, even though it treats the subject at an conceptual level, it wants to undertake an

  1. Experimental bacterial meningitis in rabbit; evaluation with CT and MRI

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seo, Jeong Jin; Kang, Heoung Keun; Chu, Sung Nam; Kim, Yun Hyeon; Jeong, Yong Yeon; Chung, Hyon De [Chonnam Univ. Medical School, Kwangju (Korea, Republic of)

    1996-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of computed tomography(CT) and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) in experimental bacterial meningitis. CT and MR images of experimental bacterial meningitis were obtained after inoculation of 1ml suspension of 10-6/ml Staphylococcus aureus directly into the supratentorial arachnoid space of 18 New Zealand white rabbits. Each animal was studied with both pre-enhanced and post-enhanced CT and MRI at 12, 24, 48 hours and 1 week. Cerebrospinal fluid of all of 18 rabbits were sampled and cultured for bacterial growth. All of 18 rabbits had the clinical symptoms such as neck stiffness and anorexia within 24 hours after the inoculation. Cerebrospinal fluid cultures were positive for Staphylococcus aureus growth. Gd-enhanced MRI exhibited diffuse enhancement along the thickened supratentorial meninges earlier than CT. In Gd-enhanced MRI, the mean contrast enhancement along the thickened supratentorial meninges earlier than CT. In Gd-enhanced MRI, the mean contrast enhancement ratio(CER) at supratentorial meninges increased to 1.93 at 12 hours and 2.99 at 24 hours from 1.06 at 0 hour. Histologic evaluation demonstrated inflammatory cell infiltration into the meninges. MRI also identified the complications of meningitis such as ependymitis and hydrocephalus more effectively than CT. These results indicated that Fd-enhanced MRI detectred earlier the abnormal findingfs of bacterial meningitis and evaluated more effectively the complications of meningitis compared with CT. MRI was more useful than CT in evaluation of the bacterial meningitis.

  2. Experimental bacterial meningitis in rabbit; evaluation with CT and MRI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seo, Jeong Jin; Kang, Heoung Keun; Chu, Sung Nam; Kim, Yun Hyeon; Jeong, Yong Yeon; Chung, Hyon De

    1996-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of computed tomography(CT) and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) in experimental bacterial meningitis. CT and MR images of experimental bacterial meningitis were obtained after inoculation of 1ml suspension of 10-6/ml Staphylococcus aureus directly into the supratentorial arachnoid space of 18 New Zealand white rabbits. Each animal was studied with both pre-enhanced and post-enhanced CT and MRI at 12, 24, 48 hours and 1 week. Cerebrospinal fluid of all of 18 rabbits were sampled and cultured for bacterial growth. All of 18 rabbits had the clinical symptoms such as neck stiffness and anorexia within 24 hours after the inoculation. Cerebrospinal fluid cultures were positive for Staphylococcus aureus growth. Gd-enhanced MRI exhibited diffuse enhancement along the thickened supratentorial meninges earlier than CT. In Gd-enhanced MRI, the mean contrast enhancement along the thickened supratentorial meninges earlier than CT. In Gd-enhanced MRI, the mean contrast enhancement ratio(CER) at supratentorial meninges increased to 1.93 at 12 hours and 2.99 at 24 hours from 1.06 at 0 hour. Histologic evaluation demonstrated inflammatory cell infiltration into the meninges. MRI also identified the complications of meningitis such as ependymitis and hydrocephalus more effectively than CT. These results indicated that Fd-enhanced MRI detectred earlier the abnormal findingfs of bacterial meningitis and evaluated more effectively the complications of meningitis compared with CT. MRI was more useful than CT in evaluation of the bacterial meningitis

  3. 24 CFR 220.802 - Final insurance endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Final insurance endorsement. 220... insurance endorsement. When all advances of loan proceeds have been made, and all the terms and conditions... on the original credit instrument the total of advances he has approved for insurance and again...

  4. American nuclear insurers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliveira, R.A.

    1988-01-01

    Nuclear liability insurance covers liability for damages directly caused by the nuclear energy hazard. This coverage includes offsite bodily injury and property damage sustained by members of the general public, and bodily injury to onsite third party personnel. Recent nuclear liability claims allege bodily injury and property damage resulting from releases or radioactive materials to the environmental and occupational radiation worker exposures. Routine reactor operations involving radioactive waste have the potential to result in such claims. The nuclear insurance Pools believe that one way such claims can be minimized is through the implementation of an effective radioactive waste management program

  5. Incentive and insurance effects of income taxation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Torben M.

    2015-01-01

    the sensitivity of labour supply to taxes, which tends to reduce tax distortions and lower the marginal costs of public funds. The relation between incentives and insurance and thus efficiency and equity is flattened by the insurance effect and it may even be non-monotone. However, the optimal utilitarian policy......Tax distortions cause a trade-off between efficiency and equity. However, taxes not only affect incentives; they also provide implicit insurance, and this may critically affect the efficiency–equity relationship. For a standard labour supply problem it is shown that the insurance effect mutes...

  6. Survey of nuclear insurance - Parts 1 and 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Francis, H.W.

    1979-01-01

    The use of nuclear energy developed comparatively suddenly and introduced hazards with which insurers were quite unfamiliar as compared to conventional hazards such as fire or explosion. In addition to the possibility of severe contamination to property and serious injury to persons on a large scale, radiation damage may become apparent long after actual exposure to radiation. All these factors made nuclear insurance mandatory. In order to marshall the large insurance capacity needed, 23 nuclear insurance pools similar to the British Insurance Committee, were set up and are operating in some 22 countries. The insurance covers written by nuclear pools are related to material damage, liability, losses, machinery breakdown contingent liabilities of suppliers of goods and services and finally transport risks and nuclear-propelled ships. (NEA) [fr

  7. Experiences obtaining insurance after live kidney donation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyarsky, B J; Massie, A B; Alejo, J L; Van Arendonk, K J; Wildonger, S; Garonzik-Wang, J M; Montgomery, R A; Deshpande, N A; Muzaale, A D; Segev, D L

    2014-09-01

    The impact of kidney donation on the ability to change or initiate health or life insurance following donation is unknown. To quantify this risk, we surveyed 1046 individuals who donated a kidney at our center between 1970 and 2011. Participants were asked whether they changed or initiated health or life insurance after donation, and if they had any difficulty doing so. Among 395 donors who changed or initiated health insurance after donation, 27 (7%) reported difficulty; among those who reported difficulty, 15 were denied altogether, 12 were charged a higher premium and 8 were told they had a preexisting condition because they were kidney donors. Among 186 donors who changed or initiated life insurance after donation, 46 (25%) reported difficulty; among those who reported difficulty, 23 were denied altogether, 27 were charged a higher premium and 17 were told they had a preexisting condition because they were kidney donors. In this single-center study, a high proportion of kidney donors reported difficulty changing or initiating insurance, particularly life insurance. These practices by insurers create unnecessary burden and stress for those choosing to donate and could negatively impact the likelihood of live kidney donation among those considering donation. © Copyright 2014 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

  8. 24 CFR 213.268 - Final insurance endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Final insurance endorsement. 213... insurance endorsement. When all advances of mortgage or loan proceeds have been made and all the terms and... indicate on the original credit instrument the total of all advances he has approved for insurance and...

  9. Health Insurance Marketplace Public Use Files

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — A set of seven (7) public use files containing information on health insurance issuers participating in the Health Insurance Marketplace and certified qualified...

  10. 34 CFR 74.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... by the recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required by the terms and... Property Standards § 74.31 Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum, provide the equivalent...

  11. 10 CFR 600.131 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... provided to property owned by the recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required... Nonprofit Organizations Post-Award Requirements § 600.131 Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum...

  12. 20 CFR 435.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... funds as provided to property owned by the recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured... ORGANIZATIONS Post-Award Requirements Property Standards § 435.31 Insurance coverage. Recipients must, at a...

  13. Microbial mutualism at a distance: The role of geometry in diffusive exchanges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peaudecerf, François J.; Bunbury, Freddy; Bhardwaj, Vaibhav; Bees, Martin A.; Smith, Alison G.; Goldstein, Raymond E.; Croze, Ottavio A.

    2018-02-01

    The exchange of diffusive metabolites is known to control the spatial patterns formed by microbial populations, as revealed by recent studies in the laboratory. However, the matrices used, such as agarose pads, lack the structured geometry of many natural microbial habitats, including in the soil or on the surfaces of plants or animals. Here we address the important question of how such geometry may control diffusive exchanges and microbial interaction. We model mathematically mutualistic interactions within a minimal unit of structure: two growing reservoirs linked by a diffusive channel through which metabolites are exchanged. The model is applied to study a synthetic mutualism, experimentally parametrized on a model algal-bacterial co-culture. Analytical and numerical solutions of the model predict conditions for the successful establishment of remote mutualisms, and how this depends, often counterintuitively, on diffusion geometry. We connect our findings to understanding complex behavior in synthetic and naturally occurring microbial communities.

  14. Health insurance and health services utilization in Ireland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harmon, C; Nolan, B

    2001-03-01

    The numbers buying private health insurance in Ireland have continued to grow, despite a broadening in entitlement to public care. About 40% of the population now have insurance, although everyone has entitlement to public hospital care. In this paper, we examine in detail the growth in insurance coverage and the factors underlying the demand for insurance. Attitudinal responses reveal the importance of perceptions about waiting times for public care, as well as some concerns about the quality of that care. Individual characteristics, such as education, age, gender, marital status, family composition and income all influence the probability of purchasing private insurance. We also examine the relationship between insurance and utilization of hospital in-patient services. The positive effect of private insurance appears less than that of entitlement to full free health care from the state, although the latter is means-tested, and may partly represent health status. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. Continuing Professional Education of Insurance and Risk Management Practitioners: A Comparative Case Study of Customer Service Representatives, Insurance Agents and Risk Managers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krauss, George E.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to understand how selected insurance practitioners learn and developed in their practices setting. The selected insurance practitioners (collectively customer service representatives, insurance agents, and risk managers) are responsible for the counseling and placement of insurance products and the implementation of…

  16. Prevention in insurance markets

    OpenAIRE

    Marie-Cécile FAGART; Bidénam KAMBIA-CHOPIN

    2006-01-01

    This paper considers a competitive insurance market under moral hazard and adverse selection, in which preventive efforts and self-protection costs are unobservable by insurance companies. Under reasonable assumptions, the conclusions of Rothschild and Stiglitz (1976) are preserved in our context even if it involves moral hazard. The riskier agents in equilibrium, who would also be the riskier agents under perfect information, receive their moral hazard contract. For other agents, adverse sel...

  17. Transparency, trust and security: An evaluation of the insurer's ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Transparency in insurance law attaches to the rights and duties of the parties, the ... protection principles as envisaged by South African insurance legislation. ... an insurance contract, the insurer's duty to speak is not based on a general ...

  18. 22 CFR 518.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... property owned by the recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required by the terms... Requirements Property Standards § 518.31 Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum, provide the...

  19. 49 CFR 19.31 - Insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... property owned by the recipient. Federally-owned property need not be insured unless required by the terms... Requirements Property Standards § 19.31 Insurance coverage. Recipients shall, at a minimum, provide the...

  20. Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Affordable Care Act created the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) program to make health insurance available to Americans denied coverage by...

  1. Influencers of Life Insurance Investments: Empirical Evidence from Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aditi Mitra

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study analyzes the impact of economic, demographic and cultural factors on life insurance consumption in 28 European countries. The period of study is post financial crisis from 2009-2014, and the study considers many of the emerging Eastern European economies where there have been significant insurance sector reforms recently. Europe is the world’s largest insurance market with 35% of the overall insurance premium contribution, but ranks third in insurance per capita, hence Europe is an interesting region in which to study insurance demand. The study observed four economic parameters: GDP per capita, gross savings, competitiveness of the nation, and inflation, as significant impacts on the insurance consumption in the region. Two demographic factors, population and education, and two cultural factors, individualism and long term orientation, appear to impact insurance consumption in the selected countries.

  2. Ways and means of insuring against nuclear risks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell Miles, A.

    1975-01-01

    Despite stringent safety requirements imposed upon nuclear installations, the need for adequate insurance cover is motivated by the consideration that a nuclear accident could lead to very grave consequences. To marshal the large insurance capacity required, national pools were formed in many countries, which may enter into arrangements with other similar national pools to increase their own capacity with a view to an appropriate spread of the risks involved. In the absence of a national nuclear pool, application for nuclear insurance would normally be made to the national insurance market association concerned. Virtually every type of nuclear risk is insurable; various forms of material damage and liability insurances are available. The financial liability of nuclear operators is established by national legislation on the basis of international conventions. Insurance coverage is linked to the operator's amount of liability established by law. A third party nuclear liability insurance policy usually consists of three parts: Part I covers the operator's liability under his domestic nuclear legislation; Part II provides non-nuclear power for accidents on the site up to a separate liability limit selected by the operator; and Part III provides cover for costs. Other types of insurance deal with damage to the site and the installation (material damage), consequential losses, contingent liabilities of suppliers of goods and services (products liability), nuclear material in transit and nuclear-propelled ships. (author)

  3. OFFERS FOR INDEXATION MECHANISM OF INSURANCE PENSION IN MANDATORY PENSION INSURANCE SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Sil'chuk

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The main problem of mandatory pension insurance system is lack of monetary resources on payment of pensions. One of the key mechanisms of ensuring of financial stability of the system is indexation insurance pensions, so long as through indexation it is possible to regulate the stream of monetary resources of both budget of pension fund and federal budget's transfer payments.Objectives. The aim of this work is to form a suggestion upon settlement of indexation of insurance pension for ensuring of financial stability of the pension system.Methodology. Writing the article applied methods used in economic studies: analysis, analytical, comparative, induction.Results. The author finds the basic problems of existent mechanism of indexation of pensions and gives suggestions about development of indexation mechanism.Conclusions and Relevance. New approach can be easily applicable in any macroeconomic and demographic terms and allow to manage federal budget expenditures inclusive of its resource possibilities.

  4. Trade Credit Insurance and Asymmetric Information Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sokolovska Olena

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The presence of different risk factors in international trade gives evidence of the necessity of support in gaps that may affect exporters’ activity. To maximize the trade volumes and in the same time to minimize the exporters’ risks the stakeholders use trade credit insurance. The paper provides analysis of conceptual background of the trade credit insurance in the world. We analyzed briefly the problems, arising in insurance markets due to asymmetric information, such as adverse selection and moral hazard. Also we discuss the main stages of development of trade credit insurance in countries worldwide. Using comparative and graphical analysis we provide a brief evaluation of the dynamics of claims and recoveries for different forms of trade credit insurance. We found that the claims related to the commercial risk for medium and long trade credits in recent years exceed the recoveries, while with the political risk the reverse trend holds. And we originally consider these findings in terms of information asymmetry in the trade credit insurance differentiated by type of risk.

  5. STATE AND PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT OF INSURANCE MARKET OF UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. V. Martseniuk

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The insurance market of Ukraine is still interesting for foreign investors. However, there is a range of negative factors. They are: 1 the old regulatory framework, public access and transparency of the insurance market for population; 2 low profitability of certain types of insurance; 3 low competitiveness of the insurance companies in comparison with commercial banks in attraction drive of free funds of legal entities and individuals; 4 insufficient state regulation and control does not allow the insurance market to develop effectively. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to analyze and identify the causes that hinder the development of insurance business in Ukraine, as well as to determine the directions of insurance market development. Methodology. To achieve this purpose the article determines the total number of insurance companies, composes the gross payment rating of the largest of them, presents the dynamics of net insurance premiums for basic insurance. This analysis allows you to identify problematic issues and activities of the insurance market. Findings. The analysis of the article revealed a number of factors that prevent successful development of insurance in Ukraine. The authors suggest priority areas for improving the situation in the insurance market. It was found that the main tasks of the development of insurance are: 1 legal framework reform; 2 improving competitiveness, investment attractiveness of the insurance companies; 3 development of modern infrastructure of the insurance market; 4 expanding the range of services and their compliance with international standards; 5 personnel development; 6 improvement of insurance activity licensing; 7 building of culture and public trust. At the same time the increase in the population solvency, economic and political stability in the country will contribute to the stabilization and intensive development of the insurance market. Originality. The article firstly

  6. Demand for voluntary basic medical insurance in urban China: panel evidence from the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance scheme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Gang; Yan, Xiao

    2012-12-01

    This paper investigates the key factors associated with the demand for Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI), which was established in 2007 and aims to cover all Chinese urban residents. Two waves of longitudinal household survey data are used, and a three-level random-intercept logit model is used for the analysis. Two different sets of explanatory variables were identified for adults and children, separately. Results suggest for both the adult and the child samples that income, health status, age and health risk behaviours are key influencing factors for basic medical insurance demand. The household head's characteristics are also significantly related to other household members' medical insurance demands. Specifically, household heads who are more educated or retired are more likely to purchase medical insurance for their children. These findings suggest that an expansion of the special subsidy to the poor or, probably more important, a risk-adjusted benefit package may be needed for voluntary basic medical insurance in China. In addition, adverse selection consistently exists and is a major challenge for the sustainability of medical insurance financing. To expand insurance coverage for children, especially those under school age, special efforts (possibly through health education or health promotion) should be focused on the household head, particularly those engaging in risky health behaviours.

  7. Reforming insurance to support workers' rights to compensation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCluskey, Martha T

    2012-06-01

    The structure and regulation of the insurance system for financing workers' compensation affects the costs of workers' benefits. Using the example of Maine's insurance market restructuring in response to a crisis of the early 1990s, this commentary explores how changes in insurance regulation might better support the goals of workers' compensation. The commentary analyzes how insurance and its regulation should go beyond correct pricing of risks to questions of how to structure incentives for loss control to include workers' interests as well as the interests of employers and insurers. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Your Insurance Dollar. Money Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baran, Nancy H., Ed.

    This booklet provides some practical guidelines for determining total insurance needs, examining options, and comparing costs. It discusses how to fit insurance costs into an overall financial plan, the necessity of adequate liability coverage, and the importance of keeping policies up to date. The next four sections highlight the basic types of…

  9. CIVIL LIABILITY OF DOCTORS AND THEIR INSURANCE (MALPRACTICE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gârbo Viorica Irina

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Malpractice insurance of medical staff is probably the oldest professional liability insurance underwritten in the insurance market in Romania. The aim of our research is to theoretically examine in a qualitative inquiry the usefulness of insurance completion by the practitioners from the Romanian health system at both state and private, in order to improve a best practice medical insurance. The medical profession is practiced in Romania under the Code of Medical Ethics 30 March 2012 prepared in code that complies with international standards contained in the Geneva Declaration of 1948, as amended by the World Medical Association and the International Code of Medical Ethics. The forms of medical liability are: disciplinary, administrative, civil and criminal and only the civil liability can be taken into insurance because only it meets the conditions of insurability. Once we explain in general and the insurance liability in particular we show articles of the Romanian Civil Code which establishes the obligation the one that caused an injury to a third person for the repair or indemnify and conditions provided by the Civil Code as an act to be considered liability. Then we refer to situations where the patient may be damaged through the fault of the doctor or the doctor unit operates. The object of malpractice insurance is loss of money that the insured would have to pay a patient whom he caused injury as a result of acts or deeds of negligence committed to, during and in relation to professional activity. Risks taken in the insurance are personal injury, illness or death of the patient and / or moral damages. Regarding the excluded risks we have presented an overview of the more common contracts underwritten by Romanian insurance companies. We show the way of underwriting, the insured sums of the standard insurance and the additional one which subscribes moral damages, to companies in Romania agreed by bodies which organize and supervise the

  10. Examining the types and payments of the disabilities of the insurants in the national farmers' health insurance program in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang Hung-Hao

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In contrast to the considerable body of literature concerning the disabilities of the general population, little information exists pertaining to the disabilities of the farm population. Focusing on the disability issue to the insurants in the Farmers' Health Insurance (FHI program in Taiwan, this paper examines the associations among socio-demographic characteristics, insured factors, and the introduction of the national health insurance program, as well as the types and payments of disabilities among the insurants. Methods A unique dataset containing 1,594,439 insurants in 2008 was used in this research. A logistic regression model was estimated for the likelihood of received disability payments. By focusing on the recipients, a disability payment and a disability type equation were estimated using the ordinary least squares method and a multinomial logistic model, respectively, to investigate the effects of the exogenous factors on their received payments and the likelihood of having different types of disabilities. Results Age and different job categories are significantly associated with the likelihood of receiving disability payments. Compared to those under age 45, the likelihood is higher among recipients aged 85 and above (the odds ratio is 8.04. Compared to hired workers, the odds ratios for self-employed and spouses of farm operators who were not members of farmers' associations are 0.97 and 0.85, respectively. In addition, older insurants are more likely to have eye problems; few differences in disability types are related to insured job categories. Conclusions Results indicate that older farmers are more likely to receive disability payments, but the likelihood is not much different among insurants of various job categories. Among all of the selected types of disability, a highest likelihood is found for eye disability. In addition, the introduction of the national health insurance program decreases the

  11. Housing Instability and Children's Health Insurance Gaps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Anne; Corman, Hope; Curtis, Marah A; Noonan, Kelly; Reichman, Nancy E

    To assess the extent to which housing instability is associated with gaps in health insurance coverage of preschool-age children. Secondary analysis of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative study of children born in the United States in 2001, was conducted to investigate associations between unstable housing-homelessness, multiple moves, or living with others and not paying rent-and children's subsequent health insurance gaps. Logistic regression was used to adjust for potentially confounding factors. Ten percent of children were unstably housed at age 2, and 11% had a gap in health insurance between ages 2 and 4. Unstably housed children were more likely to have gaps in insurance compared to stably housed children (16% vs 10%). Controlling for potentially confounding factors, the odds of a child insurance gap were significantly higher in unstably housed families than in stably housed families (adjusted odds ratio 1.27; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.61). The association was similar in alternative model specifications. In a US nationally representative birth cohort, children who were unstably housed at age 2 were at higher risk, compared to their stably housed counterparts, of experiencing health insurance gaps between ages 2 and 4 years. The findings from this study suggest that policy efforts to delink health insurance renewal processes from mailing addresses, and potentially routine screenings for housing instability as well as referrals to appropriate resources by pediatricians, would help unstably housed children maintain health insurance. Copyright © 2017 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Patient satisfaction with primary health care - a comparison between the insured and non-insured under the National Health Insurance Policy in Ghana

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fenny, Ama Pokuah; Enemark, Ulrika; Asante, Felix A

    2014-01-01

    Ghana has initiated various health sector reforms over the past decades aimed at strengthening institutions, improving the overall health system and increasing access to healthcare services by all groups of people. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) instituted in 2005, is an innovative...... system aimed at making health care more accessible to people who need it. Currently, there is a growing amount of concern about the capacity of the NHIS to make quality health care accessible to its clients. A number of studies have concentrated on the effect of health insurance status on demand...... for health services, but have been quiet on supply side issues. The main aim of this study is to examine the overall satisfaction with health care among the insured and uninsured under the NHIS. The second aim is to explore the relations between overall satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics...

  13. THE FREQUENT LABOUR TURNOVER IN INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NIGERIA : (Case : Nigerian Insurance sector)

    OpenAIRE

    Onashile, Ademola

    2012-01-01

    The essence of this thesis is to ascertain the causes, effects and solutions to the frequent labour turnover in the Nigerian insurance companies. Incessant labour turnover has become a phenomenon which many insurance companies have been vehemently battling with as this has undermined their potentials and strengths. The research methodology adopted is the qualitative method which involves the use of telephone interview with the aid of a voice recorder gadget. Therefore, the telepho...

  14. The risks at nuclear power stations and their insurance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schludi, H.N.

    1994-01-01

    Insurance can offer an uninterrupted insurance cover from start-up-to shut-down of a nuclear power station. This is assured by the insurance for the erection, for the nuclear liability, for the nuclear/fire, for the engines, for operational interruptions and for the transport. For each of the above mentioned insurance branches, essential characteristic features, such as risk carrier, protection range and insurance costs, are given. (orig.) [de

  15. MARKETING CHARACTERISTICS OF INSURANCE MARKET IN UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    А. Sabirova

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The current state of the insurance market of Ukraine in the post-crisis period, by comparison with the pre-crisis was investigated in the paper. The insurance market in the pre-crisis period grew rapidly, but was unable to withstand the economic crisis and suffered a crushing blow. The economic crisis of 2008-2009 led to a decrease of the demand for financial services in general and insurance services in particular. The lack of development of the insurance market created high barriers for responding and adapting to changes that occurred during the crisis.

  16. Willingness to Pay for Insurance in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Jan V.; Højbjerg Jacobsen, Rasmus; Lau, Morten I.

    We estimate the maximum amount that Danish households are willing to pay for three different types of insurance: auto, home and house insurance. We use a unique combination of claims data from the largest private insurance company in Denmark, measures of individual risk attitudes and discount rates...... possible states of nature, where all uncertainty is realized in the initial period and any loss incurred by an accident is subtracted from initial wealth. The estimated willingness to pay is based on annual claims and should thus be considered as an annual premium. Since there is some uncertainty about...... of the insurance claims....

  17. Expanding insurance coverage through tax credits, consumer choice, and market enhancements: the American Medical Association proposal for health insurance reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmisano, Donald J; Emmons, David W; Wozniak, Gregory D

    2004-05-12

    Recent reports showing an increase in the number of uninsured individuals in the United States have given heightened attention to increasing health insurance coverage. The American Medical Association (AMA) has proposed a system of tax credits for the purchase of individually owned health insurance and enhancements to individual and group health insurance markets as a means of expanding coverage. Individually owned insurance would enable people to maintain coverage without disruption to existing patient-physician relationships, regardless of changes in employers or in work status. The AMA's plan would empower individuals to choose their health plan and give patients and their physicians more control over health care choices. Employers could continue to offer employment-based coverage, but employees would not be limited to the health plans offered by their employer. With a tax credit large enough to make coverage affordable and the ability to choose their own coverage, consumers would dramatically transform the individual and group health insurance markets. Health insurers would respond to the demands of individual consumers and be more cautious about increasing premiums. Insurers would also tailor benefit packages and develop new forms of coverage to better match the preferences of individuals and families. The AMA supports the development of new health insurance markets through legislative and regulatory changes to foster a wider array of high-quality, affordable plans.

  18. Conceptualising the lack of health insurance coverage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, J B

    2000-01-01

    This paper examines the lack of health insurance coverage in the US as a public policy issue. It first compares the problem of health insurance coverage to the problem of unemployment to show that in terms of the numbers of individuals affected lack of health insurance is a problem comparable in importance to the problem of unemployment. Secondly, the paper discusses the methodology involved in measuring health insurance coverage, and argues that the current method of estimation of the uninsured underestimates the extent that individuals go without health insurance. Third, the paper briefly introduces Amartya Sen's functioning and capabilities framework to suggest a way of representing the extent to which individuals are uninsured. Fourth, the paper sketches a means of operationalizing the Sen representation of the uninsured in terms of the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) measure.

  19. The insurance refund request: a legal analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rollman, S O

    1998-12-01

    When an insurance payment is made erroneously to a healthcare provider and no contract between the insurer and provider addresses the issue of refunding such payments, the law relating to restitution generally applies. Restitution does not apply, however, to three exceptions that the courts have used to refuse claims by insurers for refunds of overpayments: the innocent third-party creditor exception, whereby the healthcare provider cannot be unjustly enriched by the overpayment, cannot have induced the mistaken payment, and cannot have known beforehand that the insurer was not obligated to pay; the material change in position exception, whereby the healthcare provider in good faith accepts an overpayment and so does not pursue other means of payment; and the assumption of the risk exception, which occurs when the insurer pays a claim without having complete information about it.

  20. Market Discipline and Deposit Insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Peresetsky, Anatoly

    2008-01-01

    The paper examines Russian banks’ household deposit interest rates for the transition period of setting up the deposit insurance system. Monthly observations of Russian banks’ interest rates and balance sheets are used in a fixed effects panel data model. It is shown market discipline has been significantly diminished after switching to the deposit insurance.

  1. Switching insurer in the Irish voluntary health insurance market: determinants, incentives, and risk equalization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keegan, Conor; Teljeur, Conor; Turner, Brian; Thomas, Steve

    2016-09-01

    The determinants of consumer mobility in voluntary health insurance markets providing duplicate cover are not well understood. Consumer mobility can have important implications for competition. Consumers should be price-responsive and be willing to switch insurer in search of the best-value products. Moreover, although theory suggests low-risk consumers are more likely to switch insurer, this process should not be driven by insurers looking to attract low risks. This study utilizes data on 320,830 VHI healthcare policies due for renewal between August 2013 and June 2014. At the time of renewal, policyholders were categorized as either 'switchers' or 'stayers', and policy information was collected for the prior 12 months. Differences between these groups were assessed by means of logistic regression. The ability of Ireland's risk equalization scheme to account for the relative attractiveness of switchers was also examined. Policyholders were price sensitive (OR 1.052, p sensitivity declined with age. Age (OR 0.971; p Consumers appear price-responsive, which is important for competition provided it is based on correct incentives. Risk equalization payments largely eliminated the profitable status of switchers, although further refinements may be required.

  2. Determinants of facilitated health insurance enrollment for patients with HIV disease, and impact of insurance enrollment on targeted health outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furl, Renae; Watanabe-Galloway, Shinobu; Lyden, Elizabeth; Swindells, Susan

    2018-03-16

    The introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has provided unprecedented opportunities for uninsured people with HIV infection to access health insurance, and to examine the impact of this change in access. AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) have been directed to pursue uninsured individuals to enroll in the ACA as both a cost-saving strategy and to increase patient access to care. We evaluated the impact of ADAP-facilitated health insurance enrollment on health outcomes, and demographic and clinical factors that influenced whether or not eligible patients enrolled. During the inaugural open enrollment period for the ACA, 284 Nebraska ADAP recipients were offered insurance enrollment; 139 enrolled and 145 did not. Comparisons were conducted and multivariate models were developed considering factors associated with enrollment and differences between the insured and uninsured groups. Insurance enrollment was associated with improved health outcomes after controlling for other variables, and included a significant association with undetectable viremia, a key indicator of treatment success (p insurance. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy calls for new interventions to improve HIV health outcomes for disproportionately impacted populations. This study provides evidence to prioritize future ADAP-facilitated insurance enrollment strategies to reach minority populations and unstably housed individuals.

  3. The Emergence of Flood Insurance in Canada: Navigating Institutional Uncertainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thistlethwaite, Jason

    2017-04-01

    Flood insurance has remained unavailable in Canada based on an assessment that it lacks economic viability. In response to Canada's costliest flood event to date in 2013, the Canadian insurance industry has started to develop a framework to expand existing property insurance to cover flood damage. Research on flood insurance has overlooked why and how insurance systems transition to expand insurance coverage without evidence of economic viability. This article will address this gap through a case study on the emergence of flood insurance in Canada, and the approach to its expansion. Between 2013 and 2016, insurance industry officials representing over 60% of premiums collected in Canada were interviewed. These interviews revealed that flood insurance is being expanded in response to institutional pressure, specifically external stakeholder expectations that the insurance industry will adopt a stronger role in managing flood risk through coverage of flood damage. Further evidence of this finding is explored by assessing the emergence of a unique flood insurance model that involves a risk-adjusted and optional product along with an expansion of government policy supporting flood risk mitigation. This approach attempts to balance industry concerns about economic viability with institutional pressure to reduce flood risk through insurance. This analysis builds on existing research by providing the first scholarly analysis of flood insurance in Canada, important "empirical" teeth to existing conceptual analysis on the availability of flood insurance, and the influence of institutional factors on risk analysis within the insurance sector. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

  4. Analysis of the utility of diffusion-weighted MRI and apparent diffusion coefficient values in distinguishing central nervous system toxoplasmosis from lymphoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schroeder, Paul C.; Donovan Post, M. Judith; Bruce-Gregorios, Jocelyn; Oschatz, Elizabeth; Stadler, Alfred; Thurnher, Majda M.

    2006-01-01

    Toxoplasmosis and lymphoma are common lesions of the central nervous system in patients with AIDS. It is often difficult to distinguish between these lesions both clinically and radiographically. Previous research has demonstrated restricted diffusion within cerebral lymphomas and bacterial abscesses. However, little work has been done to evaluate the diffusion characteristics of toxoplasmosis lesions. This study was designed to explore further the utility of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps and values in making the distinction between toxoplasmosis and lymphoma. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of 36 patients, including 22 with toxoplasmosis (all of whom had AIDS) and 14 with lymphoma (8 of whom had AIDS), at two institutions were reviewed retrospectively. The characteristics of the lesions on DWI were evaluated, and the ADC ratios of the lesions were calculated and compared. There was significant overlap of the ADC ratios of toxoplasma and lymphoma, most notably in the intermediate (1.0-1.6) range. There was variability in ADC ratios even among different lesions in the same patient. In only a minority of the lymphoma patients were the ADC ratios low enough to suggest the correct diagnosis. Our study showed that toxoplasmosis exhibits a wide spectrum of diffusion characteristics with ADC ratios which have significant overlap with those of lymphoma. Therefore, in the majority of patients, ADC ratios are not definitive in making the distinction between toxoplasmosis and lymphoma. (orig.)

  5. Analysis of the utility of diffusion-weighted MRI and apparent diffusion coefficient values in distinguishing central nervous system toxoplasmosis from lymphoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schroeder, Paul C.; Donovan Post, M. Judith; Bruce-Gregorios, Jocelyn [University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL (United States); Oschatz, Elizabeth; Stadler, Alfred; Thurnher, Majda M. [Medical University of Vienna, Department of Radiology Neuroradiology Section, Vienna (Austria)

    2006-10-15

    Toxoplasmosis and lymphoma are common lesions of the central nervous system in patients with AIDS. It is often difficult to distinguish between these lesions both clinically and radiographically. Previous research has demonstrated restricted diffusion within cerebral lymphomas and bacterial abscesses. However, little work has been done to evaluate the diffusion characteristics of toxoplasmosis lesions. This study was designed to explore further the utility of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps and values in making the distinction between toxoplasmosis and lymphoma. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of 36 patients, including 22 with toxoplasmosis (all of whom had AIDS) and 14 with lymphoma (8 of whom had AIDS), at two institutions were reviewed retrospectively. The characteristics of the lesions on DWI were evaluated, and the ADC ratios of the lesions were calculated and compared. There was significant overlap of the ADC ratios of toxoplasma and lymphoma, most notably in the intermediate (1.0-1.6) range. There was variability in ADC ratios even among different lesions in the same patient. In only a minority of the lymphoma patients were the ADC ratios low enough to suggest the correct diagnosis. Our study showed that toxoplasmosis exhibits a wide spectrum of diffusion characteristics with ADC ratios which have significant overlap with those of lymphoma. Therefore, in the majority of patients, ADC ratios are not definitive in making the distinction between toxoplasmosis and lymphoma. (orig.)

  6. ORGANIZATION OF INSURANCE DEFENCE IN AGRARIAN ENTERPRISE – FOREIGN EXPERIENCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Malik

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Financial stability of agricultural producers the most effective method to stimulate the development of agricultural insurance, which is part of the insurance premium compensation to agricultural producers for insurance contracts and regulation of insurance state. Government support of agricultural producers with their property insurance provides in a many developed countries (USA, Canada, Spain, etc., through which achieved a high level of insurance in the agricultural sector of the economy. In Ukraine agricultural insurance also carried out with government support, but its development is characterized by slow pace. Problems of development of agricultural insurance and solutions determine the relevance of the study of this problem. Agriculture is the key to food security. Insurance system should provide financial support to rural producers. That damage the agricultural sector affect not only the interests of the producers and the state in general, there is a need to create a basis for substantial government support for agriculture. Considerable support can be carried out through government subsidies producers or insurers in insurance operations.

  7. Risk Management in the banking and insurance sector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim Mala

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Risk management is becoming an integral part of every organization, especially for the banking and Insurance sector because of their high-risk business. Both sectors try to manage the risks of their clients and their own risks. But, challenges in the banking and insurance industry are frequently influenced by the liquidity rations and the amount and quality of capital as ground requirements for risk management. The risk exposure in recent times is becoming more complex, more dynamic and diverse. Hence, we need to understand the risks which can be taken and the risks which should be avoided. In the other side insurance policies are long term, enabling insurers to stabilize the financial system and oft en insurance is the final transfer of risk. In this paper we will analyze an overview of risk management in the banking and insurance sector.

  8. 46 CFR 308.303 - Amounts insured under interim binder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 308.303 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK INSURANCE Second Seamen's War Risk Insurance § 308.303 Amounts insured under interim binder. The amounts insured are the amounts specified in the Second Seamen's War Risk Policy (1955) or as modified by shipping...

  9. A Study of Contributing Factors in Islamic Motor Insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wan Asri Wan Abdul Aziz

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the government servant‟s perception toward Islamic Motor Insurance named as takaful. The product based on syariah rules for general insurance provided by Insurance Company in Malaysia. This study emphasizes on four factors, which product knowledge, awareness, advertising and benefit of the product. The purpose of this study is to measure the level of perception of Islamic Motor insurance and to identify whether there is a relationship between the independent variables (four factors with the dependent variable (perception. The respondents are the government servants who are using Motor insurance. This research is carried out through the finding of multiple regression and Pearson correlation analysis where the relationship between knowledge, awareness, advertising and benefit of the product toward perception of Islamic Motor Insurance among government servants. From the findings, the respondents show very good perception toward Islamic Motor Insurance. The findings showed customers‟ perception levels are very positive towards Islamic Motor insurance

  10. Good Faith in Life Insurance Contract by Indonesian Court

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mokhamad Khoirul Huda

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews both the interpretation of good faith and its implementation by the Court in terms of life insurance contracts. The principle of good faith in life insurance contracts was under the provision of the Article 251 Wet Boek van Kophandel which assigned the obligation of good faith on the insured. Based on the context of its historical and systematical interpretation, the obligation of good faith should be on both sides, the insurer and the insured. The insured had an obligation to inform any material facts and the insurer had to investigate those all facts. Until recent days, however, judges in all levels of Court did not have any shared and full understanding on the interpretation of good faith in life insurance contracts. As the result, many Courts were frequently inconsistent with each other. Hence, the sense of fairness the people perceived from the court verdict was not achieved.

  11. Situational Context of Insurance in Globalization

    OpenAIRE

    S V Martynenko

    2012-01-01

    This article shows how globalization resolves problems, which are motivated in a new way by modern situational context of social-insurance, how the 'insurance cocoon' of civilization leads to narrowing of conflict space in the world politics.

  12. A RANGELAND GRASSHOPPER INSURANCE PROGRAM

    OpenAIRE

    Skold, Melvin D.; Davis, Robert M.

    1995-01-01

    The incidence of benefits and costs from controlling rangeland grasshoppers on public grazing lands poses problems of economic efficiency and distributional equity. Public grasshopper control programs operate like public disaster assistance. However, grasshopper infestations are an insurable risk. This article proposes a rangeland grasshopper insurance program which reduces the economic inefficiencies and distributional inequities of the existing program.

  13. Disability Insurance and Healthcare Reform: Evidence from Massachusetts

    OpenAIRE

    Nicole Maestas; Kathleen J. Mullen; Alexander Strand

    2013-01-01

    As health insurance becomes available outside of the employment relationship as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the cost of applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)—potentially going without health insurance coverage during a waiting period totaling 29 months from disability onset—will decline for many people with employer-sponsored health insurance. At the same time, the value of SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) participation will decline for individuals...

  14. Theoretical and Experimental Study of Bacterial Colony Growth in 3D

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shao, Xinxian; Mugler, Andrew; Nemenman, Ilya

    2014-03-01

    Bacterial cells growing in liquid culture have been well studied and modeled. However, in nature, bacteria often grow as biofilms or colonies in physically structured habitats. A comprehensive model for population growth in such conditions has not yet been developed. Based on the well-established theory for bacterial growth in liquid culture, we develop a model for colony growth in 3D in which a homogeneous colony of cells locally consume a diffusing nutrient. We predict that colony growth is initially exponential, as in liquid culture, but quickly slows to sub-exponential after nutrient is locally depleted. This prediction is consistent with our experiments performed with E. coli in soft agar. Our model provides a baseline to which studies of complex growth process, such as such as spatially and phenotypically heterogeneous colonies, must be compared.

  15. Optimal Taxation and Social Insurance in a Lifetime Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bovenberg, A. Lans; Sørensen, Peter Birch

    Advances in information technology have improved the administrative feasibility of redistribution based on lifetime earnings recorded at the time of retirement. We study optimal lifetime income taxation and social insurance in an economy in which redistributive taxation and social insurance serve......-transfer system does not provide full disability insurance. By offering imperfect insurance and structuring disability benefits so as to enable workers to insure against disability by working harder, social insurance is designed to offset the distortionary impact of the redistributive labor income tax on labor...... to insure (ex ante) against skill heterogeneity as well as disability risk. Optimal disability benefits rise with previous earnings so that public transfers depend not only on current earnings but also on earnings in the past. Hence, lifetime taxation rather than annual taxation is optimal. The optimal tax...

  16. 77 FR 30377 - Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-23

    ... Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Final regulations. SUMMARY: This document contains final regulations relating to the health insurance premium tax... categories of immigrants described in the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. One...

  17. 46 CFR 308.107 - War risk hull insurance policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false War risk hull insurance policy. 308.107 Section 308.107 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK INSURANCE War Risk Hull and Disbursements Insurance § 308.107 War risk hull insurance policy. Standard Form MA-240...

  18. On 1-convexity and nucleolus of co-insurance games

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Driessen, Theo; Fragnelli, Vito; Katsev, Ilya V.; Khmelnitskaya, Anna Borisovna

    The situation, in which an enormous risk is insured by a number of insurance companies, is modeled through a cooperative TU game, the so-called co-insurance game, first introduced in Fragnelli and Marina (2004). In this paper we show that a co-insurance game possesses several interesting properties

  19. 24 CFR 266.604 - Mortgage insurance premium: Other requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Mortgage insurance premium: Other... Contract Rights and Obligations Mortgage Insurance Premiums § 266.604 Mortgage insurance premium: Other..., based upon the respective share of risk, that is to be used in calculating mortgage insurance premiums...

  20. 31 CFR 337.13 - Payment of mortgage insurance premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... insurance premiums. When book-entry debentures are being purchased prior to maturity to pay for mortgage insurance premiums, the difference between the amount of the debentures purchased and the mortgage insurance... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Payment of mortgage insurance...

  1. Flow and active mixing have a strong impact on bacterial growth dynamics in the proximal large intestine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cremer, Jonas; Segota, Igor; Yang, Chih-Yu; Arnoldini, Markus; Groisman, Alex; Hwa, Terence

    2016-11-01

    More than half of fecal dry weight is bacterial mass with bacterial densities reaching up to 1012 cells per gram. Mostly, these bacteria grow in the proximal large intestine where lateral flow along the intestine is strong: flow can in principal lead to a washout of bacteria from the proximal large intestine. Active mixing by contractions of the intestinal wall together with bacterial growth might counteract such a washout and allow high bacterial densities to occur. As a step towards understanding bacterial growth in the presence of mixing and flow, we constructed an in-vitro setup where controlled wall-deformations of a channel emulate contractions. We investigate growth along the channel under a steady nutrient inflow. Depending on mixing and flow, we observe varying spatial gradients in bacterial density along the channel. Active mixing by deformations of the channel wall is shown to be crucial in maintaining a steady-state bacterial population in the presence of flow. The growth-dynamics is quantitatively captured by a simple mathematical model, with the effect of mixing described by an effective diffusion term. Based on this model, we discuss bacterial growth dynamics in the human large intestine using flow- and mixing-behavior having been observed for humans.

  2. PRICING AND ASSESSING UNIT-LINKED INSURANCE CONTRACTS WITH INVESTMENT GUARANTEES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciumas Cristina

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available One of the most interesting life insurance products to have emerged in recent years in the Romanian insurance market has been the unit-linked contract. Unit-linked insurance products are life insurance policies with investment component. A unit-linked life insurance has two important components: protection and investment. The protection component refers to the insured sum in case of the occurrence of insured risks and the investment component refers to the policyholders’ account that represents the present value of the units from the chosen investment funds. Due to the financial instability caused by the Global Crisis and the amplification of market competitiveness, insurers from international markets have started to incorporate guarantees in unit-linked products. So a unit- linked life insurance policy with an asset value guarantee is an insurance policy whose benefit payable on death or at maturity consists of the greater of some guaranteed amount and the value of the units from the investment funds. One of the most challenging issues concerns the pricing of minimum death benefit and maturity benefit guarantees and the establishing of proper reserves for these guarantees. Insurers granting guarantees of this type must estimate the cost and include the cost in the premium. An important component of the activity carried out by the insurance companies is the investment of the premiums paid by policyholders in various types of assets, in order to obtain higher yields than those guaranteed by the insurance contracts, while providing the necessary liquidity for the payment of insurance claims in case of occurrence of the assumed risks. So the guaranteed benefits can be broadly matched or immunized with various types of financial assets, especially with fixed-interest instruments. According to Romanian legislation which regulates the unit-linked life insurance market, unit-linked life insurance contracts pass most of the investment risk to the

  3. [The state and health insurance].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagrave, Michel

    2003-01-01

    The relationship between the State and the health insurance passes through an institutional and financial crisis, leading the government to decide a new governance of the health care system and of the health insurance. The onset of the institutional crisis is the consequence of the confusion of the roles played by the State and the social partners. The social democracy installed by the French plan in 1945 and the autonomy of management of the health insurance established by the 1967 ordinances have failed. The administration parity (union and MEDEF) flew into pieces. The State had to step in by failing. The light is put on the financial crisis by the evolution of ONDAM (National Objective of the Health Insurance Expenses) which appears in the yearly law financing Social Security. The drift of the real expenses as compared to the passed ONDAM bill is constant and worsening. The question of reform includes the link between social democracy to be restored (social partners) and political democracy (Parliament and Government) to establish a contractual democracy. The Government made the announcement of an ONDAM sincere and medically oriented, based on tools agreed upon by all parties. The region could become a regulating step involving a regional health council. An accounting magistrate would be needed to consider not only the legal aspect but to include economic fallouts of health insurance. The role and the missions of the Social Security Accounting Committee should be reinforced.

  4. History, problems, and prospects of Islamic insurance (Takaful) in Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Issa; Rahman, Noor Naemah Binti Abdul; Yusoff, Mohd Yakub Zulkifli Bin Mohd; Nor, Mohd Roslan Bin Mohd

    2016-01-01

    This study explains the history, current problems, and future possibilities of Islamic insurance (takaful) in Bangladesh. To articulate these issues, the researcher has adopted the qualitative method, and data has been collected through secondary sources i.e. articles, books, and online resources. The study reveals that Islamic insurance in Bangladesh is regulated by the Insurance Act 2010 which is contradictory with Islamic insurance causing numerous problems for Islamic insurance. This study also points out that Islamic insurance is a fast growing industry with huge prospects in Bangladesh. The government should introduce separate regulations for both Islamic and conventional insurance. The research concludes with suggestions for the further development of Islamic insurance in Bangladesh.

  5. Social Insurance in Romania - Concern for Governors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuela Panaitescu

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: the comparative research of the public and private insurance systems is important as itprovides financial benefits to the individuals who have lost their income due to their old age, along with theirdecreased labour ability caused by disabilities, disease, motherhood, work related accidents orunemployment, and the resulting benefits are conditioned by the due contributions; Prior Work: this workcontinues previous research conducted for the PhD thesis called “Improving Management in the Public andPrivate Insurance Systems in the Market Economy”; Approach: the main methods that have been used insurveys and observation of the population’s behaviour; Results: in order to reduce the financial restraints thatthe public insurance system has to cope with, the concrete implementation of a social insurance system basedon the needs and value scales of the Romanian state is necessary; Implications: academics and researchersinterested in the Romanian social insurance system management and its long run effects on the population;Value: the insurance systems determins the quality of life for most of the population and strongly influencethe economy, especially the labour market and the capital market. This is why social security is a commonchallenge for all European countries.

  6. Public health insurance under a nonbenevolent state.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemieux, Pierre

    2008-10-01

    This paper explores the consequences of the oft ignored fact that public health insurance must actually be supplied by the state. Depending how the state is modeled, different health insurance outcomes are expected. The benevolent model of the state does not account for many actual features of public health insurance systems. One alternative is to use a standard public choice model, where state action is determined by interaction between self-interested actors. Another alternative--related to a strand in public choice theory--is to model the state as Leviathan. Interestingly, some proponents of public health insurance use an implicit Leviathan model, but not consistently. The Leviathan model of the state explains many features of public health insurance: its uncontrolled growth, its tendency toward monopoly, its capacity to buy trust and loyalty from the common people, its surveillance ability, its controlling nature, and even the persistence of its inefficiencies and waiting lines.

  7. The cost conundrum: financing the business of health care insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Annemarie

    2013-01-01

    Health care spending in both the governmental and private sectors skyrocketed over the last century. This article examines the rapid growth of health care expenditures by analyzing the extent of this financial boom as well some of the reasons why health care financing has become so expensive. It also explores how the market concentration of insurance companies has led to growing insurer profits, fewer insurance providers, and less market competition. Based on economic data primarily from the Government Accountability Office, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the American Medical Associa tion, it has become clear that this country needs more competitive rates for the business of health insurance. Because of the unique dynamics of health insurance payments and financing, America needs to promote affordability and innovation in the health insurance market and lower the market's high concentration levels. In the face of booming insurance profits, soaring premiums, many believe that in our consolidated health insurance market, the "business of insurance" should not be exempt from antitrust laws. All in all, it is in our nation's best interest that Congress restore the application of antitrust laws to health sector insurers by passing the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act as an amendment to the McCarran-Ferguson Act's "business of insurance" provision.

  8. Investment Strategy and Efficiency of Investment Activity of European Insurers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhabynets Olga Yo.

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The article studies investment strategy and efficiency of investment activity of European insurance companies. In particular, it analyses the share of investments of insurance companies of Europe in GDP, investment portfolio of European insurers and its structure, contribution of insurance companies – leaders of investment activity – into the European investment portfolio. It studies influence of the financial crisis upon investment strategy of European insurers and analyses efficiency of investment activity of European insurers in risk insurance and life insurance. The article proves that investment business models of insurance companies are capable of resisting crisis phenomena more efficiently than other financial institutions. It marks out that measures of insurance companies that are directed at increase of profitability of investments require from them both significant expenditures on creation of the system of investment risk management and open access to different categories of financial assets and markets, which influences the general risk level, taken upon by an insurance company. The author draws a conclusion that, taking into account recent developments, European insurers should focus on equity and investment risk management, finding new possibilities for their (investments growth and also adaptation of new systems and operations for solution of these important tasks.

  9. Handbook of international insurance between global dynamics and local contingencies

    CERN Document Server

    Venard, Bertrand

    2007-01-01

    THE HANDBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE Gordon Stewart, President, Insurance Information Institute, New York, USA "The globalization of insurance markets means that understanding both international developments and local trends around the world is now fundamental for insurance executives coping with today’s complex and competitive environment. By providing such a comprehensive picture of the world’s insurance markets, this unique and necessary book becomes an essential tool for anyone seeking to operate wisely and successfully. Richard D. Phillips, Professor and Chairman, Department of Risk Management and Insurance, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA "Comprehensive surveys, written by international experts, provide in depth descriptions and discuss recent developments of the world’s major insurance markets. Each chapter contains essential insights for insurance executives and academic researchers interested in risk management and the globalization of insurance markets." Patrick Liedtke, Secretary Ge...

  10. 75 FR 45563 - Terrorism Risk Insurance Program; Final Netting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-03

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 31 CFR Part 50 RIN 1505-AC24 Terrorism Risk Insurance Program; Final... Title I of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (``TRIA'' or ``the Act''), as amended by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005 (``Extension Act'') and the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program...

  11. On 1-convexity and nucleolus of co-insurance games

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Driessen, Theo; Fragnelli, Vito; Katsev, Ilya V.; Khmelnitskaya, Anna Borisovna

    2011-01-01

    The insurance situation in which an enormous risk is insured by a number of insurance companies is modeled through a cooperative TU game, the so-called co-insurance game, first introduced in Fragnelli and Marina (2004). In this paper we present certain conditions on the parameters of the model that

  12. Should the joint provision of credit insurance with unsecured lending be prohibited? An examination of the UK payment protection insurance market

    OpenAIRE

    John Ashton; Robert S. Hudson

    2011-01-01

    This study examines whether the recent UK regulatory decision to introduce a blanket ban on the joint provision of consumer lending and credit insurance was justified. This case has wide regulatory implications following international concerns that the sale of credit insurance has been detrimental to customers due to overpriced credit insurance and a possible cross subsidy from credit insurance to unsecured lending. To explore this issue a theoretical model is developed considering why a cros...

  13. Essays on valuation and risk management for insurers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plat, H.J.

    2011-01-01

    In recent years there has been increasing attention of the insurance industry for market consistent valuation of insurance liabilities and the quantification of insurance risks. Important drivers of this development are the new regulatory requirements resulting from the introduction of IFRS 4 Phase

  14. 76 FR 50931 - Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-17

    ... Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of... relating to the health insurance premium tax credit enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care... be able to purchase private health insurance through State-based competitive marketplaces called...

  15. 77 FR 26698 - Allocation of Mortgage Insurance Premiums

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-07

    ... Allocation of Mortgage Insurance Premiums AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Final... explain how to allocate prepaid qualified mortgage insurance premiums to determine the amount of the... Act of 2010. The regulations affect taxpayers who pay prepaid qualified mortgage insurance premiums...

  16. State Mandated Benefits and Employer Provided Health Insurance

    OpenAIRE

    Jonathan Gruber

    1992-01-01

    One popular explanation for this low rate of employee coverage is the presence of numerous state regulations which mandate that group health insurance plans must include certain benefits. By raising the minimum costs of providing any health insurance coverage, these mandated benefits make it impossible for firms which would have desired to offer minimal health insurance at a low cost to do so. I use data on insurance coverage among employees in small firms to investigate whether this problem ...

  17. Impacts of crop insurance on water withdrawals for irrigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deryugina, Tatyana; Konar, Megan

    2017-12-01

    Agricultural production remains particularly vulnerable to weather fluctuations and extreme events, such as droughts, floods, and heat waves. Crop insurance is a risk management tool developed to mitigate some of this weather risk and protect farmer income in times of poor production. However, crop insurance may have unintended consequences for water resources sustainability, as the vast majority of freshwater withdrawals go to agriculture. The causal impact of crop insurance on water use in agriculture remains poorly understood. Here, we determine the empirical relationship between crop insurance and irrigation water withdrawals in the United States. Importantly, we use an instrumental variables approach to establish causality. Our methodology exploits a major policy change in the crop insurance system - the 1994 Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act - which imposed crop insurance requirements on farmers. We find that a 1% increase in insured crop acreage leads to a 0.223% increase in irrigation withdrawals, with most coming from groundwater aquifers. We identify farmers growing more groundwater-fed cotton as an important mechanism contributing to increased withdrawals. A 1% increase in insured crop acreage leads to a 0.624% increase in cotton acreage, or 95,602 acres. These results demonstrate that crop insurance causally leads to more irrigation withdrawals. More broadly, this work underscores the importance of determining causality in the water-food nexus as we endeavor to achieve global food security and water resources sustainability.

  18. An application of Fuzzy DEMATEL electronic life-insurance development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyed Vali Tabatabaei

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available For years, e-commerce has generated competitive advantage for many industries especially in insurance industry where people could apply for any sort of insurance, very easily. In fact, insurance industry has become one of the most important sectors in the world. E-commerce, on the other hand, has absorbed various people in insurance industry to develop economic growth. However, applying e-commerce for insurance firms may encounter serious obstacles and it is important to know them properly and setup appropriate actions to remove them. In this paper, we present a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM technique based on DEMATEL with an adaptation of fuzzy logic to find important factors impacting implementation of e-commerce for life insurance industry. The proposed study of this paper designs a questionnaire and distributes it among some insurance experts and then we analyze them using fuzzy DEMATEL technique. Findings indicate that “lack of designing death table based on the existing statistics of population death in Iran”, “lack of variety in protections of life insurance in proportionate to society individual’s requirements by means of low level income of society individuals” and “lack of extensive advertisements for developing the culture of life insurance in country” are the most important factors influencing insurance industry for enhancing e-business.

  19. The claims handling process of engineering insurance in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I.C. de Beer

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Due to technological developments, the complicated world of engineering and its associated products are continuously becoming more specialized. Short-term insurers provide engineering insurance to enable the owners and operators of engineering assets to combat the negative impact of the associated risks. It is, however, a huge challenge to the insurers of engineering insurance to manage the particular risks against the background of technological enhancement. The skills gap in the short-term insurance market and the engineering environment may be the main factor which inhibits the growth of the engineering insurance market. The objective of this research embodies the improvement of financial decision-making concerning the claims handling process of engineering insurance. Secondary as well as primary data were necessary to achieve the stated objective. The secondary data provided the background of the research and enabled the researchers to compile a questionnaire for the empirical survey. The questionnaire and a cover letter were sent to the top 10 short-term insurers in South Africa that are providing engineering insurance. Their perceptions should provide guidelines to other short-term insurers who are engaged in engineering insurance, as they are regarded as the market leaders of engineering insurance in South Africa. The empirical results of this research focus on the importance of various claims handling factors when assessing the claims handling process of engineering insurance, the problem areas in the claims handling process concerned, as well as how often the stipulations of engineering insurance policies are adjusted to take the claims handling factors into account.

  20. Health insurance tax credits, the earned income tax credit, and health insurance coverage of single mothers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cebi, Merve; Woodbury, Stephen A

    2014-05-01

    The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 enacted a refundable tax credit for low-income working families who purchased health insurance coverage for their children. This health insurance tax credit (HITC) existed during tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993, and was then rescinded. A difference-in-differences estimator applied to Current Population Survey data suggests that adoption of the HITC, along with accompanying increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), was associated with a relative increase of about 4.7 percentage points in the private health insurance coverage of working single mothers with high school or less education. Also, a difference-in-difference-in-differences estimator, which attempts to net out the possible influence of the EITC increases but which requires strong assumptions, suggests that the HITC was responsible for about three-quarters (3.6 percentage points) of the total increase. The latter estimate implies a price elasticity of health insurance take-up of -0.42. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Bacterial community profile of contaminated soils in a typical antimony mining site.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ningning; Zhang, Suhuan; He, Mengchang

    2018-01-01

    The soils around the world's largest antimony mine have been contaminated by high concentrations of Sb and As, which might influence microbial diversity in the surrounding soils. The ecological effects of bioavailable Sb and As on the composition and diversity of microbial community in soils remain unknown. In this study, the relative abundance, taxonomic diversity and composition of bacterial community in soils from a typical Sb mine area, and the relationship between the bacterial community and bioavailable concentrations as well as environmental factors have been investigated comprehensively using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT). The results indicated that Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and Cyanobacteria were the dominant bacterial populations at phylum level in all soil samples, accounting for more than 80% of the bacteria sequenced. The abundance and diversity of bacterial community vary along a metal contamination gradient. Redundancy discriminate analysis (RDA) revealed that 74.74% of bacterial community variation in the contaminated soils was explained by six environmental factors (pH, Sb DGT , As DGT , potential ecological risk index (RI), TC, TN), among which pH, Sb DGT , and As DGT were dominant factors influencing the composition and diversity of bacteria. This study contributes to our understanding of microbial diversity in a local ecosystem and introduces the option of studying bioavailable Sb and As using DGT.

  2. Situational Context of Insurance in Globalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S V Martynenko

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This article shows how globalization resolves problems, which are motivated in a new way by modern situational context of social-insurance, how the 'insurance cocoon' of civilization leads to narrowing of conflict space in the world politics.

  3. The Hungarian car insurance cartel saga

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cseres, K.J.; Szilágyi, P.; Rodger, B.

    2013-01-01

    his chapter discusses the landmark Hungarian case relating to the car insurance and repair markets, which involved both vertical and horizontal agreements. The case concerned the horizontal relationship between Hungary’s two largest insurance companies and their vertical relationships with car

  4. Physical constraints determine the logic of bacterial promoter architectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezer, Daphne; Zabet, Nicolae Radu; Adryan, Boris

    2014-01-01

    Site-specific transcription factors (TFs) bind to their target sites on the DNA, where they regulate the rate at which genes are transcribed. Bacterial TFs undergo facilitated diffusion (a combination of 3D diffusion around and 1D random walk on the DNA) when searching for their target sites. Using computer simulations of this search process, we show that the organization of the binding sites, in conjunction with TF copy number and binding site affinity, plays an important role in determining not only the steady state of promoter occupancy, but also the order at which TFs bind. These effects can be captured by facilitated diffusion-based models, but not by standard thermodynamics. We show that the spacing of binding sites encodes complex logic, which can be derived from combinations of three basic building blocks: switches, barriers and clusters, whose response alone and in higher orders of organization we characterize in detail. Effective promoter organizations are commonly found in the E. coli genome and are highly conserved between strains. This will allow studies of gene regulation at a previously unprecedented level of detail, where our framework can create testable hypothesis of promoter logic. PMID:24476912

  5. Willingness To Pay for Social Health Insurance in Iran

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nosratnejad, Shirin; Rashidian, Arash; Mehrara, Mohsen; Sari, Ali Akbari; Mahdavi, Ghadir; Moeini, Maryam

    2014-01-01

    Objective: The substantial level of out-of-pocket expenditure for health care by the population causes policy makers to draw particular attention to the proposal of a social health insurance for uninsured members of the community. Hence, it is essential to gather reliable information about the amount of Willingness To Pay (WTP) for health insurance. We assessed the WTP for health insurance in Iran in order to suggest an affordable social health insurance. Method: The study sample included 300 household heads in all Iranian provinces. The double bounded dichotomous choice approach was used to elicit the WTP. Result: The average WTP for social health insurance per person per month was 137 000 Rial (5.5 $US). Household heads with higher levels of education, income and those who worked had more WTP for the health insurance. Besides, the WTP increased in direct proportion to the number of insured members of each household and in inverse proportion to the family size. Conclusions: From a policy point of view, the WTP value can be used as a premium in a society. An important finding of this study is that although households’ Willingness To Pay is not more than the total insurance premium, households are willing to pay more than the premium they ought to pay for health insurance coverage. That is, total insurance premium is 150 000 Rials and households ought to pay approximately half of this sum. This can afford policy makers the ideal opportunity to provide good insurance coverage for medical services according to the need of society. PMID:25168979

  6. Re-insurance in the Swiss health insurance market: Fit, power, and balance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmid, Christian P R; Beck, Konstantin

    2016-07-01

    Risk equalization mechanisms mitigate insurers' incentives to practice risk selection. On the other hand, incentives to limit healthcare spending can be distorted by risk equalization, particularly when risk equalization payments depend on realized costs instead of expected costs. In addition, cost based risk equalization mechanisms may incentivize health insurers to distort the allocation of resources among different services. The incentives to practice risk selection, to limit healthcare spending, and to distort the allocation of resources can be measured by fit, power, and balance, respectively. We apply these three measures to evaluate the risk adjustment mechanism in Switzerland. Our results suggest that it performs very well in terms of power but rather poorly in terms of fit. The latter indicates that risk selection might be a severe problem. We show that re-insurance can reduce this problem while power remains on a high level. In addition, we provide evidence that the Swiss risk equalization mechanism does not lead to imbalances across different services. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Insurability and mitigation of flood losses in private households in Germany.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thieken, Annegret H; Petrow, Theresia; Kreibich, Heidi; Merz, Bruno

    2006-04-01

    In Germany, flood insurance is provided by private insurers as a supplement to building or contents insurance. This article presents the results of a survey of insurance companies with regard to eligibility conditions for flood insurance changes after August 2002, when a severe flood caused 1.8 billion euro of insured losses in the Elbe and the Danube catchment areas, and the general role of insurance in flood risk management in Germany. Besides insurance coverage, governmental funding and public donations played an important role in loss compensation after the August 2002 flood. Therefore, this article also analyzes flood loss compensation, risk awareness, and mitigation in insured and uninsured private households. Insured households received loss compensation earlier. They also showed slightly better risk awareness and mitigation strategies. Appropriate incentives should be combined with flood insurance in order to strengthen future private flood loss mitigation. However, there is some evidence that the surveyed insurance companies do little to encourage precautionary measures. To overcome this problem, flood hazards and mitigation strategies should be better communicated to both insurance companies and property owners.

  8. Fingering instabilities in bacterial community phototaxis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vps, Ritwika; Man Wah Chau, Rosanna; Casey Huang, Kerwyn; Gopinathan, Ajay

    Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 is a phototactic cyanobacterium that moves directionally in response to a light source. During phototaxis, these bacterial communities show emergent spatial organisation resulting in the formation of finger-like projections at the propagating front. In this study, we propose an analytical model that elucidates the underlying physical mechanisms which give rise to these spatial patterns. We describe the migrating front during phototaxis as a one-dimensional curve by considering the effects of phototactic bias, diffusion and surface tension. By considering the propagating front as composed of perturbations to a flat solution and using linear stability analysis, we predict a critical bias above which the finger-like projections appear as instabilities. We also predict the wavelengths of the fastest growing mode and the critical mode above which the instabilities disappear. We validate our predictions through comparisons to experimental data obtained by analysing images of phototaxis in Synechocystis communities. Our model also predicts the observed loss of instabilities in taxd1 mutants (cells with inactive TaxD1, an important photoreceptor in finger formation), by considering diffusion in mutually perpendicular directions and a lower, negative bias.

  9. 7 CFR 1901.509 - Loss, theft, destruction, mutilation, or defacement of insured notes, insurance contracts, and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Loss, theft, destruction, mutilation, or defacement... Notes § 1901.509 Loss, theft, destruction, mutilation, or defacement of insured notes, insurance... writing. (iv) A full statement of circumstances of the loss, theft, or destruction of the note. (2) An...

  10. Main Determinants of Supplementary Health Insurance Demand: (Case of Iran)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motlagh, Soraya Nouraei; Gorji, Hassan Abolghasem; Mahdavi, Ghadir; Ghaderi, Hossein

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: In the majority of developing countries, the volume of medical insurance services, provided by social insurance organizations is inadequate. Thus, supplementary medical insurance is proposed as a means to address inadequacy of medical insurance. Accordingly, in this article, we attempted to provide the context for expansion of this important branch of insurance through identification of essential factors affecting demand for supplementary medical insurance. Method: In this study, two methods were used to identify essential factors affecting choice of supplementary medical insurance including Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Bayesian logit. To this end, Excel® software was used to refine data and R® software for estimation. The present study was conducted during 2012, covering all provinces in Iran. Sample size included 18,541 urban households, selected by Statistical Center of Iran using 3-stage cluster sampling approach. In this study, all data required were collected from the Statistical Center of Iran. Results: In 2012, an overall 8.04% of the Iranian population benefited from supplementary medical insurance. Demand for supplementary insurance is a concave function of age of the household head, and peaks in middle-age when savings and income are highest. The present study results showed greater likelihood of demand for supplementary medical insurance in households with better economic status, higher educated heads, female heads, and smaller households with greater expected medical expenses, and household income is the most important factor affecting demand for supplementary medical insurance. Conclusion: Since demand for supplementary medical insurance is hugely influenced by households’ economic status, policy-makers in the health sector should devise measures to improve households’ economic or financial access to supplementary insurance services, by identifying households in the lower economic deciles, and increasing their

  11. The Multiplication Effect of Legal Insurance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J.P.B. De Mot (Jef); B. Depoorter (Ben); M.G. Faure (Michael)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractBecause legal insurance policies cover the expenses of plaintiffs in bringing legal claims, such policies increase the risk of negligent or careless acts by tortfeasors. For this reason, potential tortfeasors would prefer to avoid injuring holders of legal insurance policies. Since

  12. UK nuclear terrorism insurance arrangements: an overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tetley, M. G.

    2004-01-01

    The risk of terrorism in the UK is not new, but since the New York World Trade Centre attacks in 2001, the potential scale of any terrorist attack has required a considerable reassessment. With UK foreign policy closely aligned to that of the USA, the UK security services now consider it is simply a matter of when and no longer if the UK is attacked. For insurers of any type this fact would cause concern; for insurers involved in high profile and potentially catastrophic loss targets such as nuclear power plants, any attack could have a severe impact on solvency and shareholder's funds. This paper's objective is to describe the terrorism insurance arrangements put in place in the U.K. both before and after the September 2001 attacks. These arrangements have been designed both to safeguard insurers' solvency and to ensure that the nuclear industry and general public can continue to be reassured by the availability of insurance should an attack ever occur.(author)

  13. Financial risk protection from social health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, Kayleigh; Mukherji, Arnab; Mullen, Patrick; Sood, Neeraj

    2017-09-01

    This paper estimates the impact of social health insurance on financial risk by utilizing data from a natural experiment created by the phased roll-out of a social health insurance program for the poor in India. We estimate the distributional impact of insurance on of out-of-pocket costs and incorporate these results with a stylized expected utility model to compute associated welfare effects. We adjust the standard model, accounting for conditions of developing countries by incorporating consumption floors, informal borrowing, and asset selling which allow us to separate the value of financial risk reduction from consumption smoothing and asset protection. Results show that insurance reduces out-of-pocket costs, particularly in higher quantiles of the distribution. We find reductions in the frequency and amount of money borrowed for health reasons. Finally, we find that the value of financial risk reduction outweighs total per household costs of the insurance program by two to five times. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  14. Incentive-compatible guaranteed renewable health insurance premiums.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herring, Bradley; Pauly, Mark V

    2006-05-01

    Theoretical models of guaranteed renewable insurance display front-loaded premium schedules. Such schedules both cover lifetime total claims of low-risk and high-risk individuals and provide an incentive for those who remain low-risk to continue to purchase the policy. Questions have been raised of whether actual individual insurance markets in the US approximate the behavior predicted by these models, both because young consumers may not be able to "afford" front-loading and because insurers may behave strategically in ways that erode the value of protection against risk reclassification. In this paper, the optimal competitive age-based premium schedule for a benchmark guaranteed renewable health insurance policy is estimated using medical expenditure data. Several factors are shown to reduce the amount of front-loading necessary. Indeed, the resulting optimal premium path increases with age. Actual premium paths exhibited by purchasers of individual insurance are close to the optimal renewable schedule we estimate. Finally, consumer utility associated with the feature is examined.

  15. HEALTH INSURANCE

    CERN Multimedia

    Division HR

    2000-01-01

    Change of name for AUSTRIA As of October 1, the AUSTRIA Assurances S.A. company will change its name to: UNIQA Assurances S.A. It inherits the same name as its parent Austrian company, which adopted it towards the end of 1999. This change has no effect on the contract which binds it to CERN for the administration of our Health Insurance Scheme. New insurance cards will be sent to you by UNIQA and the printed forms and envelopes will gradually be updated with the new name. Postal and phone addresses remain unaffected by the change. You should address your postal mail to: UNIQA Assurances rue des Eaux Vives 94 case postale 6402 1211 Genève 6 You may telephone your usual contact persons at the same numbers as before and send e-mails to the UNIQA office at CERN at: UNIQA.Assurances@cern.ch

  16. Perceptions of healthcare quality in Ghana: Does health insurance status matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duku, Stephen Kwasi Opoku; Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward; Janssens, Wendy; Pradhan, Menno

    2018-01-01

    This study's objective is to provide an alternative explanation for the low enrolment in health insurance in Ghana by analysing differences in perceptions between the insured and uninsured of the non-technical quality of healthcare. It further explores the association between insurance status and perception of healthcare quality to ascertain whether insurance status matters in the perception of healthcare quality. Data from a survey of 1,903 households living in the catchment area of 64 health centres were used for the analysis. Two sample independent t-tests were employed to compare the average perceptions of the insured and uninsured on seven indicators of non-technical quality of healthcare. A generalised ordered logit regression, controlling for socio-economic characteristics and clustering at the health facility level, tested the association between insurance status and perceived quality of healthcare. The perceptions of the insured were found to be significantly more negative than the uninsured and those of the previously insured were significantly more negative than the never insured. Being insured was associated with a significantly lower perception of healthcare quality. Thus, once people are insured, they tend to perceive the quality of healthcare they receive as poor compared to those without insurance. This study demonstrated that health insurance status matters in the perceptions of healthcare quality. The findings also imply that perceptions of healthcare quality may be shaped by individual experiences at the health facilities, where the insured and uninsured may be treated differently. Health insurance then becomes less attractive due to the poor perception of the healthcare quality provided to individuals with insurance, resulting in low demand for health insurance in Ghana. Policy makers in Ghana should consider redesigning, reorganizing, and reengineering the National Healthcare Insurance Scheme to ensure the provision of better quality healthcare

  17. Strengthening insurance partnerships in the face of climate change - Insights from an agent-based model of flood insurance in the UK.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crick, Florence; Jenkins, Katie; Surminski, Swenja

    2018-04-25

    Multisectoral partnerships are increasingly cited as a mechanism to deliver and improve disaster risk management. Yet, partnerships are not a panacea and more research is required to understand the role that they can play in disaster risk management and particularly disaster risk reduction. This paper investigates how partnerships can incentivise flood risk reduction by focusing on the UK public-private partnership on flood insurance. Developing the right flood insurance arrangements to incentivise flood risk reduction and adaptation to climate change is a key challenge. In the face of rising flood risks due to climate change and socio-economic development insurance partnerships can no longer afford to focus only on the risk transfer function. However, while expectations of the insurance industry have traditionally been high when it comes to flood risk management, the insurance industry alone will not provide the solution to the challenge of rising risks. The case of flood insurance in the UK illustrates this: even national government and industry together cannot fully address these risks and other actors need to be involved to create strong incentives for risk reduction. Using an agent-based model focused on surface water flood risk in London we analyse how other partners could strengthen the insurance partnership by reducing flood risk and thus helping to maintain affordable insurance premiums. Our findings are relevant for wider discussions on the potential of insurance schemes to incentivise flood risk management and climate adaptation in the UK and also internationally. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. HOW AFFECTED WAS WORLD INSURANCE MARKET BY GLOBAL CRISIS?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ANA PREDA

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Global economic and financial crisis triggered in 2008 had a significant impact with effects in economical life worldwide. Insurance industry wasn't spared but was less affected than other sectors of the world economy. The aim of the present paper is to underline the main crisis effects on global insurance market through a comparative study between different regions from the world, taking into consideration the main indicators which give us an insurance market dimension, such as: gross premium volume, insurance density and insurance penetration.

  19. 29 CFR 500.123 - Property damage insurance required.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... MIGRANT AND SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORKER PROTECTION Motor Vehicle Safety and Insurance for Transportation of Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers, Housing Safety and Health for Migrant Workers Insurance § 500.123 Property damage insurance required. (a) When a person who is an employer of a migrant or...

  20. Insurance requirements and practices of Ethiopia's construction sector

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The principles of insurance and types of insurance policies in construCtion industry in general is discussed. The status of consultants and contractors in Ethiopian construction sector is briefly reviewed. Questionnaires were designed to preliminary assess whether relevant insurance policies are bought by contracting and ...