Description: Early in his career, Ehren Nagel, FSA, MAAA, scoured through podcasts and articles about predictive analytics, long suspecting this was a field with potential for him.

Description: The International Actuarial Association Health Section, the Society of Actuaries International Section, and American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) published the report “International Health Care Funding 2020”. This article highlights the features of the report.

Description: Savings from biosimilars have accelerated significantly in the past few years. There has been a number of relatively recent biosimilar launches that can help to shape our expectations of the financial impact that could result from this year’s big event. Savings from biosimilars have accelerated significantly in the past few years. There has been a number of relatively recent biosimilar launches that can help to shape our expectations of the financial impact that could result from this year’s big event.

Description: Social determinants of health (SDoH) have been a topic of growing interest in recent years, yet consensus about what the phrase represents and how health-related social needs should be studied or addressed by employers, health plans, providers and other stakeholders in the business of health care have been lacking. For many, low-income populations come to mind when considering the topic, yet SDoH include a wide range of factors beyond income. Many types of data are available, yet each presents distinct challenges and opportunities for analysis. In this article, we describe some of the underlying context for considering SDoH, as well as some of the potential data sources to consult and challenges to grapple with on this important topic.

Description: Through the sponsorship of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Society of Actuaries partnered with Wakely to use their health care data to study the effects of COVID-19 on overall health care claims for individuals with a COVID-19 diagnosis. The conclusion of the study is that individuals with COVID-19 claims had significant increases in health care costs leading up to their months of diagnosis, as well as in the months following their diagnosis. These effects were more pronounced for individuals who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 as well as for individuals with prior co-morbidities. Finally, the overall health care costs of these members plateaued at significantly higher levels than their pre-COVID baselines. In fact, all the main membership cohorts experienced claim levels that were at least 20% higher than their pre-COVID starting points.

Description: In this session, Deana Bell, FSA MAAA provides a comprehensive introduction to the Medicare Risk adjustment Program. Deana is a Principal & Consulting Actuary in the Seattel office at Milliman. She has been working with Medicare Advantage throughout her career as an actuary. Her expertise includes actuarial opinions, pricing, rating, reserving, medical underwriting, benchmarking, and risk adjustment projects. IN this session she sheds light on how Medicare Advantage health plans are compensated by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) through risk adjusted revenue. She highlights the significance of risk adjustment in ensuring financial stability for Medicare Advantage plans. Contributors: Deana Bell, FSA MAAA ; David Koenig, FSA, MAAA, John Dawson, FSA, MAAA, Jon Forster, ASA, MAAA

Description: In this video Scott Allen, FSA, MAAA discusses the Medicare Advantage Part C bid template. The template helps Medicare Advantage plans estimate costs and premiums, comparing their bids to CMS benchmarks. It’s a complex process involving worksheets that project costs, calculate revenue requirements, and determine rebates, ultimately influencing the plan’s benefits, premiums, and competitiveness in the market. Contributors: Scott Allen, FSA, MAAA, Eric Milner, ASA, MAAA, Danica Turner, FSA, MAAA, Jon Forster ASA, MAAA

Description: This research report provides an evaluation and synthesis of the methodologies and data samples used on characterizing health care fraud.

Description: Yi-Ling Lin, FSA, MAAA, FCA, started the SOA’s Predictive Analytics Certificate Program to keep pace with the impact big data and predictive modeling is having on the health care industry