The Australian prudential regulator proposed new measures aimed at improving governance standards in the private health insurance sector.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, or APRA, said Feb. 7 that the measures seek to strengthen governance practices, extend standards that will ensure the competency of anyone exercising influence over a private health insurer and streamline reporting standards.
George Summerhayes, APRA's executive board member, said the measures will bolster the industry's resilience "by increasing the likelihood that boards, senior managers, auditors and actuaries will identify and take decisive action on emerging issues."
The proposed measures commence phase two of APRA's road map of reviewing the regulatory framework for private health insurance. Phase one, which focused on risk, resulted in the adoption of APRA's cross-industry risk management prudential standard, effective April 1. The third phase will examine the industry's capital standards and will likely commence in 2018.
APRA said stakeholders have until May 2 to review the proposed measures, noting that it is looking to finalize the standards later this year. The new measures are expected to come into force from July 1, 2019.
