Insurance news

Insurers and employers in the USA are looking for ways to deal with healthcare costs that are increasing at a much higher rate than inflation. The expected rise is around 6.5%, with predictions that some of this will be pushed onto consumers through increases in copayments, deductibles, etc.

Country updates

For insurers and employers looking at the future of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), it will still be valid to expats from and in the United Kingdom until the activation of Article 50. The negotiations of this may also result in a continued agreement between the EU and the UK.

International health news

The number of women seeking abortions in Latin America has increased by up to 108% in some countries due to scares surrounding the Zika virus. Abortion remains illegal in many countries in the region, including Brazil and Ecuador, where the increase has been the most dramatic.   

A potential new treatment for autism has been discovered through the isolation of the so-called “chatty gene”, oxytocin. The gene helps people feel at ease in social situations and in the reading of facial expressions – both areas that those with autism characteristically struggle in.