A delegation from Bermuda aims to steer business towards the Island when it attends the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) conference in Indianapolis this month.

Changes in healthcare policies in the US in the past few years, particularly under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which is widely referred to as ObamaCare, has led to amalgamation of hospitals and other healthcare providers, and expanded Medicaid coverage to millions who previously did not have the health insurance.

In a statement, the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) said: “That trend has created greater demand for healthcare captives to offset the upsurge in potential risks.”

The ability of Bermuda captive insurers to provide support to US healthcare organisations, will be promoted by the BDA at the conference.

The agency will lead a team of ten brokers, captive managers and insurance, regulatory and associated representatives at the conference. The BDA will also have an exhibition booth and, in partnership with the Bermuda Society for Healthcare Risk Management, will sponsor a lunch time conference event featuring Butch Agnew, vice-president of Dyna Management Services, and Kimberley Morgan, of Endurance. The pair will speak about the future of healthcare risk management.

Cyber-risk expert Theresa Payton will be the keynote speaker at the lunch event.

In preparation for the conference, the BDA hosted an hour-long webinar at the end of September detailing changes to the healthcare risk management landscape in the US.

“Our recent webinar highlighted the high level of international interest in the area of healthcare risk management, and provided a great launch pad for our upcoming attendance at ASHRM,” said Jereme Ramsay, a business development manager at the BDA.

“Bermuda is a trusted, innovative partner in the healthcare insurance space, with an active reinsurance market that’s able to offer many professional liability excess of loss programmes. It makes our market a one-stop shop for those seeking solutions.”

In its statement, the BDA noted that Bermuda has about 40 professionals writing healthcare insurance and reinsurance for “a full spectrum of entities”.

Mr Agnew, of Dyna, who was a panellist on the webinar, said the upcoming conference was an important showcase for the Island’s healthcare market.

“It’s only second to Rims as an annual insurance industry conference that brings together key risk managers, in this case, from major healthcare organisations looking for insurance solutions,” he said. “Bermuda has a lot to offer and, going forward, its attraction in this sector is only going to grow.”

The conference takes place from October 18 to 21.

The BDA webinar can be downloaded at www.bda.bm/webinars.