Description: Updates on the efforts of the Academy’s health practice council. its work groups and task forces, to educate health care policymakers on issues including principles for reform, Medicare, the individual insurance market, and risk factors.

Description: Summary of testimony by an AAA Board member before a congressional subcommittee, as an expert on risk assessment and adjustment, especially in relation to Medicare risk contracting and HMO payments. She recommended: mitigating the geographical region values, credibility weights for payments to health plans, carving out high cost claim segments, reengineering the ACR methodology, shifting AAPCC methodology from fee-for-service toward competitive bidding, and further projects to improve risk methods.

Description: Updates on the efforts of the Academy’s health practice council. its work groups and task forces, to educate and influence health care policymakers on issues including principles for health care reform, Medicare, wellness programs, and solvency.

Description: This article is the second in a two part series that summarizes a longer paper that can be downloaded from the website of the Social Insurance and Public Finance Section. Both articles take the form of a point-counterpoint dialogue addressing important aspects of social insurance programs. The first part discussed their nature, desirability and advantages, as well as whether they can form a framework to achieve sustainable inter-generational equity. This article focuses on whether pre-funding of a social insurance program can occur and can contribute to the financial security of the participants. Fundamental differences of opinion exist regarding these programs, not only due to different personal and political values, but also as a result of the viewpoint taken (for example, assessment of the program in isolation, consideration of the sponsoring government's financial situation, or the overall national economy).

Description: Republicans have promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act for years. Now that they have power, what will Republican health care reform look like?

Description: During the SOA’s recent Living to 100 Symposium, one of the sessions that got me thinking much more deeply about the financing of public retirement plans was titled “Mortality Age Patterns: Trends and Projections.”

Description: Member benefit newsletter for the Social Insurance and Public Finance Section of the SOA.

Description: Chairperson's Corner discussing actuarial principles and what we as actuaries value in our work.

Description: The article presents descriptions of the July, 2015, newsletter articles, and the author suggests topics where future articles are welcome.

Description: A proposal to reform current health care market, from a 'preferred payer' system, in which Medicare and Medicaid pay less than the true cost while others must then pay more, to a 'value for money' system. This would be achieved by requiring providers to bill all patients the same rate for the same services, with a standard bundling format to make all providers' rate differences transparent. Differences between billed charges and what Medicare pays would be made up by the Medicare patient, rather than subsidized by those outside of Medicare.