Description: Paper estimates the burden of chronic disability on the U.S. elderly population, using sex-specific measures of long-term care LTC service use, intensity and costs.

Description: Targeted Improvements provides a strong impetus for commitment by management to develop and maintain a set of appropriate assumptions. As even the best of assumptions will take time to season, the sooner the improvements in assumptions are made, the quicker the goal of stabilized earnings can be realized.

Description: Presented at October 2001 Annual Meeting. Panelists speculate how the health care delivery system will change over the next 30 years and the effect these changes will have on baby boomer needs and on future long-term-care 'LTC' policies.

Description: A study of disability experience examines cost burden and degree of disability, and how these measures vary across different subpopulations.

Description: This article defines LTC insurance and looks at the advantages large employers have to gain from group LTC. From Long-Term Care News, March 2006, Issue No. 17.

Description: Report on the activities of the Academy’s health practice council and its work groups.

Description: The barrier between humans and machines continues to blur, but curiously, this may have been prediction thousands of years ago in ancient myths. This article looks to how some of the early legends are becoming manifest in modern technology, particularly in the area of elder care. From automation, to humanoid assistants, to mind clones will the age of technology bring a new utopia?

Description: This session from the 2003 SOA Spring Meeting discusses the results of the LTC Insurance Experience Study and how to apply to LTC pricing, setting long-term and short-term objectives and communicating the results through preparing and delivering the report. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 29, No. 2, Session 55PD.

Description: Some seniors may find it challenging to manage frequent doctor visits. Telemedicine can significantly fill in some of these gaps by enabling “virtual” doctor visits. Telemedicine improves access to medical care, reduces the need for transportation, reduces wait times, protects the health of individuals who won’t be exposed to germs of others in a waiting room, and improves access to care from a healthcare professional who may be far away from the patient and more. Implications for telemedicine in charged amounts (in various insurances) are being worked out and continue to evolve.

Description: This is an introduction to the SOA call for essays around risk strategies pertaining to the diverse risks found in retirement. We are pleased that these essays can be included in this issue of Pension Section News, along with a short interview with each author.