The insurance industry, a global enterprise of commerce and government, is gaining in prominence within private sector solutions envisaged for public health problems in many countries. As financial interests pursue growing penetration in social reproduction, middle-income countries and 'emerging economies' are considered profitable new sites for its market growth. A doubling of revenues in the global market for private health insurance is predicted by 2025. This seminar paper presents work in progress that sets out to explore and problematise the rationale and operation of private health insurance. Building on Ericson et al. (2003; 2010)'s understanding of insurance as a key institution of governance beyond the state, it raises questions about the operation of the sector and about what contemporary private health insurance regimes may mean for citizenship and for healthcare systems.

Dr Susan Fairley Murray is Professor of Health, Society and Development and Head of the Department of International Development, King's College London. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist working at the interface of Sociology, Public Health and International Development Studies. Her research examines the moral economy of healthcare markets and how health systems can generate or prevent health and wider social goals.