Gone are the days when international medical insurers divided the world into two blocs.Radical changes in global trade triggered by the growth of emerging economies have caused international medical insurance companies to “slice up” the world in different patterns.

Until the 2000s, most insurers simply regarded the world as two blocs. One was the world, less the USA. The other was the entire world (which included the USA). Sometimes Europe would be taken as a separate entity.

China has changed that. Set to rival the USA as the leading economy, it is also set to rival it in terms of medical costs – at least for hospitals used by the expatriate community.

Medical bills faced by the international community in China far outstrip the other BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia and India.

The swing to the Far East has been pronounced and rapid, according to Kevin Melton, sales and marketing director of Axa PPP International. “I can see it in the sort of service that expatriates are expecting now in China and the Far East,” he said.

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/