Description: In order to encourage health insurance issuers to offer health insurance coverage on the Exchange and on the individual and small group markets, while ameliorating the potential impact on any particular health insurance issuer of providing coverage without pricing for pre-existing conditions or the gender of the insured, the Affordable Care Act includes three risk-sharing programs: the Transitional Reinsurance program, the Risk Corridor program and the Risk Adjustment program (collectively referred to as the “3Rs”). The financial and tax reporting of each health insurance issuer is affected by the implementation of these risk-sharing programs because each health insurance issuer is required to pay for the programs’ costs, and some issuers are or will be eligible for benefits under them.

Description: On Dec. 29, 1973 President Nixon signed into law the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, which authorizes $375 million to be used by the DHEW to stimulate the establishment and development of HMO's over the next five years. This article describes the status of the regulations and the development of additional HMO's.

Description: A humorous look at the spring 2013 activities that a health care actuary working on individual or small group health care reform would be involved in.

Description: This article exams societal trends that may influence retirement patterns and presented retirement scenarios. From The Actuary Vol. 24, No. 12

Description: Health Care in Ireland public care, private insurance, risk adjustment Issue No. 39.

Description: Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), groups with 50 or less full time employee equivalents will eventually be subject to the ACA’s modified community rating rules. While some groups will see lower premiums than they would have without the ACA, others will see significant premium increases. Many of the latter type opted for transitional relief beginning in 2014 to avoid the ACA as long as possible. With the end of transitional relief approaching in 2018, what will these groups do? One option will be to self-insure using a product generically termed Level Funding.

Description: Risk adjustment is used to adjust the revenue stream to health insurers that sell ACA eligible plans and Medicare Advantage plans. This article compares and contrasts these risk adjustment programs.

Description: What is the difference between a Single-Payer and Universal Health Care System, and how could the U.S. implement a system that would reduce the growth of medical costs while increasing quality.

Description: This article presents a view of health care as an economic system, suggests a framework for classifying current criticisms of the system, and offers references for further reading.