Description: This section presents book reviews and summaries of recent publications on a variety of topics.

Description: This article discusses the legislative summary of the changes that will occur with the new Medigap policies, which will be effective on or after June 1, 2010. Issue No 60

Description: Panelists discuss current implications of the MMA on Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement plans, and introduce the new Part D prescription drug benefit. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 31, No. 2, Session 107

Description: This is a brief summary of a Brooking Institution study entitled 'The Payroll Tax for Social Security. The study argues that the payroll tax should be eliminated as a source of financing of Social Security on the grounds that it is regressive and is especially burdensome to the poor.

Description: This paper documents recent medicare utilization experience from 1975-1977 extracted from a large statistical data file developed by the Department of Health and Human Services. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1982, Vol. 34.

Description: Elderly women living alone experience some of the highest poverty rates in the United States. One reason for their financial frailty is that they face more longevity risk than men. Existing financial products that can mitigate this risk are not attractive to many people. Can alternative vehicles for pooling longevity risk be developed outside the insurance market that would appeal to these individuals? This paper suggests some risk-pooling approaches and compares their effectiveness and viability.

Description: This paper focuses on the situation of women at high ages and the implications of longer life for women. This paper draws on and brings together work done by the Society of Actuaries in connection with the 2005 post-retirement risk survey, work from Social Security administration studies, U.S. government census data, WISER, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and papers funded by the Social Security research center.

Description: Chapter 10 of the Models for Retirement Policy Analysis. This chapter describes the Macroeconomic-Demographic Model of the U.S. Retirement Income System used to investigate alternative approaches to investment of the OASDI trust funds.

Description: The Health Section Council HSC of the Society of Actuaries approved and funded a project to study the cost impact on plan sponsor retiree pharmacy costs when Medicare Part D is implemented in 2006. Actuarial & Health Care Solutions, LLC AHCS was retained by HSC to perform the project. This report provides estimated savings for several of the options that will be available to plan sponsors after implementation of the Medicare prescription drug program.

Description: "Through both informed policy debate and opinionated social media, there are many current event health topics actively discussed and debated. The question remains... how does one separate out subjective information, seek objective analysis, and at the same time consider where there might be more research needed to come to conclusions? This session will use several current event topicsas examples and discover insights as to where research has been performed, what it may or may not cover, and also note where lines are still blurred and may need further details to be studied. Topics that may be discussed include: How valuable and exact is the use of risk-adjustment for Medicare Advantage What is the health and mortality impact of receiving COVID-19 vaccinations"