Description: This study was sponsored by the Society of Actuaries Health Section. This paper explores the relative significance of aging as a determinant of financial cost of health care beyond age 50, with particular attention to the effect for ages 65 and older. The paper presents concepts of aging factors and aging curves, which define relative values between ages for utilization or cost of health care services. General conclusions are drawn from Medicare data that utilization and cost differ by age, but that aging factors vary across services and may be less significant at very old ages. The author then turns to the question of measuring the significance of an aging curve assumption and what accuracy is lost in the simpler alternative of a single value across an age range.

Description: This project shows how to use agent-based models to simulate the behaviors of agents in complex health systems.

Description: This is one of a series of SOA-sponsored papers on the subject of Evaluating the Results of Care Management Interventions. This paper addresses the theory of measurement design and provides a practical evaluation of the most common designs for the practitioner.

Description: This session discussion is about outside actuarial profession's perspective on health care cost, insurer's role in medical care management, relationships between treatment decisions, available coverage, appropriate use of underwriting and paying for uncompensated care. From Record of Society of Actuaries Vol. 18, No. 1A.

Description: Panel discusses the effects of reduced payment levels to many Medicare managed care organizations. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 2.

Description: Presenter discusses the results published in Dr. David Eisenberg's paper entitled, Integrative Medicine, and offers an update on the data collection effort of the SOA Task Force on Alternative Care. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 25, No. 2.

Description: Panelists discuss current issues and trends impacting health plan contracting with providers. Hospital and physician contracting is discussed from both a payer's and provider's persepctive. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 30, No. 1, Session 30

Description: This session summarizes recent trends in behavioral health parity, pros and cons of parity, the impact of mandated benefits on near-term medical costs and methods to effectively manage mental health utilization. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 30, No. 1, Session 81

Description: More and more providers are desiring risk-based contracts instead of traditional FFS-based contracts. This session is intended to outline some of the actuarial best practices in risk-based contracting related to the many flavors of the CMS ACO programs, as well as Commercial risk-based contracts.

Description: Does disease management DM positively influence health care costs? According to three prestigious sources, the answer is no. From Financing Chronic Care Monograph, M-HB05-1.