Description: A summary of the recent SOA Product Development Section webinar, Challenging the Status Quo: Emerging LTC Product Designs. Summarizes discussions on how the LTC industry can overcome existing hurdles and evolve to meet consumer needs.

Description: Carlos Arocha, the 2022 Chair of the International Section Council, introduces the articles featured in the current newsletter issue. In addition, he highlights recent and planned activities undertaken by the section.

Description: On February 15, 2022, the Association Forum Health Care Collaborative, a collection of metropolitan Chicago based Healthcare associations, held its winter event. This virtual gathering featured two sessions titled: “Healthcare Policy Perspective” and “Megatrends and Tipping Points that will Define Success in the "New Normal".

Description: In this Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute report, authored by consultants from Milliman, Inc. (Milliman) we aim to study the effects of hurricanes on human health: whether there is a relationship between hurricanes and the observed prevalence of healthcare utilization or certain health conditions among the affected population, whether this relationship can be observed through a healthcare utilization dataset, and whether there is an interaction between this observation and metrics of socioeconomic vulnerability.

Description: The rules governing the framework of Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces continue to be refined at the state and federal level. The catalyst for such changes has been a desire to improve markets, which has been primarily informed by data and experience in the ACA's first decade. This session will feature a panel of consulting actuaries, a state policy advisor who has influenced ACA legislation, and an attorney deeply involved in ACA risk adjustment litigation. Discussion will include new federal proposals, efforts to strengthen enforcement of rating compliance, new actuarial insights from public data, and the anticipated future implications for ACA markets. By attending this session, you will be able to: • Understand what precipitated risk adjustment lawsuits and how proposed federal rules address these concerns. • Identify how state regulators are addressing premium misalignment between metal levels and shaping local policies. • Develop new insights on publicly available data. • Understand the implications these policy changes will have on the future of pricing health insurance benefits, consumer value and enrollment distributions in ACA marketplaces. • Understand the primary factors leading to ACA market success.

Description: On September 14, 2022, The Wall Street Journal hosted its ‘Future of Health’ event, which was a virtual event featuring three sessions on some emerging cutting-edge topics that could impact the future healthcare environment as well as health care actuaries. This report summarizes the event.

Description: ACA risk adjustment is intended to "bridge the gap" between allowed rates and actuarial rates. If risk adjustment methodology is not bridging that gap & becomes an additional input to pricing formulae, it is not serving its intended purpose.