Malaysia's central bank Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has announced that the design of the base medical and health insurance or takaful product, introduced as part of Budget 2026, is expected to be finalised by the end of 2025 with a planned launch in 2027 according to a news report on the web-portal https://www.thevibes.com/.
Philippines Congress is likely to consider a request from the government to double the crop insurance subsidy it pays to the country's farmers to PHP8bn in 2026 so that it covers up to 4.2m farmers. According to a news report on the news portal https://bilyonaryo.com most of these farmers are rice growers.
To reduce the strain on Brunei's public health system, employers are to provide minimum private health insurance for their foreign workers. This mandate is being implemented in two phases.
Indonesian legislators have called for online motorcycle taxi drivers to be included in the national health and employment insurance schemes (BPJS Kesehatan and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan).
Long term exposure to extreme heatwaves accelerates the body's ageing process according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change journal in August 2025.
In India the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is likely to consider reducing or removing the 18% GST on life and health insurance premiums.
China has expanded its occupational injury insurance programme to cover more workers engaged in new forms of employment according to a news report by news agency Xinhua.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched Universal Health Coverage Practitioners and Experts Knowledge Exchange and Resources (UHC PEERS), a regional peer-to-peer learning network to accelerate universal health coverage across Asia and the Pacific.
The Insurance Regulatory and Promotion Commission (OIC) of Thailand in partnership with Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) will study and prepare a voluntary health insurance strategic plan aiming to build a strong health insurance system for the country.
Dementia and disability patients as also those suffering from some acute diseases and under the age of 50-years in Taiwan will be eligible for long term care services beginning 1 January 2026 according to the Taiwanese ministry of health and welfare (MOHW).