Thesis (D.Sc.D.)--Boston University, Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-75).

It is generally assumed that by virtue of s. 5 of the Civil Law Act 1956 (Malaysia), which deals with the application of English law, the law of insurance in Malaysia follows strictly the law of England either as it stood on 7 April 1956 (for the states of Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Trengganu and Selangor) or as it stands currently (for the states of Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak). Whilst this is essentially correct, there are several factors which result in the development and application of some divergent principles. This thesis seeks to trace the general body of insurance law which has developed in Malaysia. It starts with a historical account of the insurance industry in the country. This is followed by ten chapters dealing with the main aspects of the substantive law. In these chapters, an attempt is made to highlight any noticeable departure from the statute law or common law of England. Such a departure may be due to the fact that the relevant law in Malaysia differs from that in England, for example the provisions of the Contracts Act 1950 (Malaysia) in relation to contractual formalities. Again, the provisions of the Insurance Act 1963 (Malaysia) in relation to insurable interest differ from the English common law. Moreover, Malaysian judges have interpreted and applied the common law in ways which do not always mirror English developments. Even where there are almost identical statutory provisions, such as those in relation to trusts of life policies, there may be problems which are unique to Malaysia because of the different personal laws of its peoples. The next chapter deals with Compulsory Third Party Motor Insurance which is the most important branch of general insurance in the country. The thesis then describes the introduction of a parallel system of insurance, ie. the Islamic system of insurance in the country, a development in Malaysia and a few other Muslim countries. The final chapter looks at how Malaysia, as a developing country, regulates its insurance industry.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

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Försäkringsgivarens informationsplikt och rättsverkningar för bristande information

Managed care has become a prominent mechanism for insuring dental care. Empirical research suggests that managed dental plans provide lower quality care to patients. However, few studies have specifically addressed the effects of managed care on the quality of dental hygiene care. Thus, in this study the researcher examines whether dental hygienists deliver a lower level of treatment to managed care patients than to those who are not subject to managed care. Questionnaire data were gathered from 193 members of the American Dental Hygienists' Association residing in the Chicago area. The primary independent variable, managed care, was measured with an item that asked the respondents to indicate the percentage of patients they treat that are insured by a managed dental plan. The questionnaire also contained items that measured the frequency in which the respondents perform 23 tasks that are indicators of quality of dental hygiene care. Principal components factor analysis of these 23 items yielded the study's two dependent variables: periodontal procedures and appointment time. Regression analysis of the data revealed a significant negative relationship between managed care and appointment time. This relationship may be attributable to an economic incentive on the part of dentist-employers who control the amount of time scheduled for dental hygienists' patients. Dentist-employers may reduce the time available for managed care patients in order to allow longer appointments for more profitable fee-for-service patients. The study results did not support the notion that managed care affects the extent to which dental hygienists perform periodontal procedures. These mixed results suggest that future research should examine the relationships between managed care and other aspects of quality of dental hygiene care not addressed in the current study.

To measure attitudes toward justice in access to health care services in managed care plans in a convenience sample of medical professionals at Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Methods. A sixteen item, self-administered instrument based on Morreim's four concepts of justice in health care access was administered to 147 health care professionals, representing physicians, allied health, and hospital administration. SPSS was used to analyze the results. Results. The attitudes of the respondents were negative toward managed care. They did not feel that managed care had been a positive development in the United States or that managed care had improved access to preventive care or improved primary care. On the survey instrument, respondents scored highest on the scale measuring fairness to individual patients. Conclusion. In a convenience sample of health care professionals at Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Indiana, equity in distributing access to health care among individual patient needs was found to more closely meet their expectations of justice in health care access. There were no differences found across occupational groups in their responses to the two scales. There were differences in attitudes toward managed care among occupational groups.

This is a multi–essay dissertation in the area of mortality risk management. The first essay investigates natural hedging between life insurance and annuities and then proposes a mortality swap between a life insurer and an annuity insurer. Compared with reinsurance, capital markets have a greater capacity to absorb insurance shocks, and they may offer more flexibility to meet insurers’ needs. Therefore, my second essay studies securitization of mortality risks in life annuities. Specifically I design a mortality bond to transfer longevity risks inherent in annuities or pension plans to financial markets. By explicitly taking into account the jumps in mortality stochastic processes, my third essay fills a gap in the mortality securitization modeling literature by pricing mortality securities in an incomplete market framework. Using the Survey of Consumer Finances, my fourth essay creates a new financial vulnerability index to examine a household’s life cycle demand for different types of life insurance.

We determine the optimal allocation of funds between the fixed and variable sub-accounts in a variable annuity with a GMDB (Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit) clause featuring partial withdrawals by using a utility-based approach. In section two, the Merton method is applied by assuming that individuals allocate funds optimally in order to maximize the expected utility of lifetime consumption. It also reflects bequest motives by including the recipient's utility in terms of the policyholder's guaranteed death benefits. We derive the optimal transfer choice by the insured, and furthermore price the GMDB through maximizing the discounted expected utility of the policyholders and beneficiaries by investing dynamically in the fixed account and the variable fund and withdrawing optimally. In section three, we add fixed and stochastic income to the model and find that both human capital and the GMDB will influence the insured's allocation and withdrawal decisions. Section four explores the GMDB effects if there is also a term life policy available in the market. Our work suggests that if term life insurance is available and is continuously adjustable, fairly priced GMDBs may not be useful investments and the existence of GMDBs does not affect term life policy demand significantly.