Description: Discussion of direct primary care and how it helps with several challenges in health care today. DPC improves care coordination, improves outcomes, improves doctor and patient satisfaction, and reduces spending. DPC successes promote the view that primary care should not be covered by insurance; rather, it should be paid for directly.

Description: A proposal to reform the health care provider payment system through: a national fee schedule, shifting more reimbursements to primary care providers, better integration of hospital & physician fees, evidence based care, pay for performance, and a better provider risk sharing mechanism.

Description: This article from major US payers describes palliative care as a scaleable means of improving quality and reducing costs during serious and complex illness.

Description: Provides an overview of a Columbia University graduate course in actuarial science called a Global Perspective of the Health Insurance Market. It includes an overview of this unique course and a summary of course content and completed research in the course. The course covers all financial aspects of US and international health insurance.

Description: The editorial shares observations and lessons learned from the process of implementing the Affordable Care Act.

Description: Since health care reform has made accountable care organizations a hot topic, an SOA workgroup is addressing relevant questions, including provider risk under various ACO models, limitations of the Medicare model for motivating change in the health care delivery system, strategic priorities, attribution of members, meaurement, and the roles actuaries can play.

Description: Report on meetings sessions in each of 5 tracks for Long Term Care professionals: Actuarial, Compliance, Operations, Policy and Provers, and Group.

Description: A proposal to address provider payment issues by gradually moving to accountable care organizations. Capitations would be risk-adjusted, non-capitated costs would be covered by hospitalization fund and stoploss, incentives for quality & effective preventive care would be tied to the amount remaining in the fund, and government involvement would be through incentives rather than mandate.

Description: This article contains a condensed summary and excerpt from the fourth white paper in the Commercial Health Care: What’s Next? series.

Description: This article is about the most significant issues and trends that may impact long-term care LTC risks, care delivery and protection in the future.