In a possibly poor time for major health insurance providers new acquisitions in the new BRIC countries have offset a slow time in the old traditional markets, of Europe and North America.
With several countries just coming out of recession, the numbers of job losses [many of whom had corporate health insurance] meant that numbers overall in the "West" remained at normal positions, whilst the major boost only came from the new world.
This was also bolstered by the fact that some of the larger companies swallowed up a number of smaller eastern companies therefore taking their clients on board. The worst hit area overall was the UK numbers fell by a small percentage, mainly felt tobe due to rising costs in cancer care.
However an industry spokesman said that this was acceptable as the figures in South-East Asia, the Pacific and in Australia had grown so quickly that any short term slowing in Europe would be covered. It has not yet been figured, the breakdown of the individual types of policies sold, but it was thought that possibly company health insurance might have suffered, rather than individual policies.
