Description: Full version of The Financial Reporter, Issue No. 67, December 2006.

Description: In this era of rising health care costs, numerous efforts have been made to link quality and cost through multiple approaches. This is a report of a study, conducted by MPRO under contract with the SOA, in which they evaluate whether quality pays or not in an inpatient setting by carefully selecting a few hospitals in Southeast Michigan and retrospectively calculating their return on investment [ROI] in quality improvement [QI] activities within their organization.

Description: Full version of Pension Section News, August 2005, Issue No. 59.

Description: Past problems with Association Group Disability Coverage inadequate pricing, contract deficiencies, less restrictive underwriting standards, lack of risk diversification Issue No. 38

Description: Full version of Health Watch News, Issue No. 52, May 2006.

Description: Recognizing an opportunity to help serve its members in this age of increased financial oversight, the Health Section of the Society of Actuaries commissioned a series of guides on the use of statistical techniques specifically geared for the work of health actuaries. In this first guide in the series, the topic is an estimate well-known to health actuaries- the calculation of incurred but not reported [IBNR] health claims reserves. In particular, this guide focuses on the development of confidence intervals around IBNR estimates.

Description: Full version of Risk Management, November 2005, Issue No. 6.

Description: Full version of Health Watch News, Issue No. 53, September 2006.

Description: Full version of Health Section News, Issue No. 55, May 2007.

Description: Healthcare costs have been rising faster than general inflation for many years. Early models that predicted this past pattern projected healthcare expenditure growth that continued to outpace total expenditure growth leading to the fallacious position that the whole of the US economy would ultimately be consumed by healthcare. The Society of Actuaries' Pension Section and Health Section Research teams commissioned Professor Thomas E. Getzen of Temple University to construct a resource model for the projection of long term healthcare cost trends that includes capacity constraints to ensure the long-term projection is rational. The motivation for creation of the model was driven by its potential usage as a resource for the estimation of reportable liabilities for retiree healthcare benefits as specified under FAS 106 and GASB 45 accounting statements. This is a zip file containing the following: 1. A background paper on the creation of the health trend model, 2. The model, programmed in Microsoft Excel [xls format], that projects per-person expenditures and growth rates through 2099 using baseline assumptions, but also permits the flexibility for user–inputted alternative assumptions, and 3. Technical documentation providing transparency and support for the ultimate results.