Description: The article discusses the sustainability of the ACA individual market from a public entitlement standpoint. A key point of measuring sustainability is the reliance on market forces rather than federal budget constraints. The article explains why an actuarial viewpoint of sustainability is necessary to a greater extent than other public assistance and social insurance programs. The article challenges actuaries to be a bold, objective voice in a space that is full of opinionated but often uninformed viewpoints.

Description: Rising drug—and, to a lesser extent, health care—costs in Canada are creating long-term challenges for not only governments and employers across Canada but for individuals as well, with no easy answers.

Description: Introduction to additional actuarial research into development of and regulatory impact, economic impact and consumer impact of prescription drugs in the United States. Intended to further educate actuaries and others who work in this area and motivate more actuarial involvement to increase transparency, increase competition, better align stakeholder incentives and better mitigate total cost of care increases

Description: A discussion of the impact of the June, 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision on Medicaid expansion and the financial impications for states.

Description: Summary of Medicaid encounter data, including how it is collected by health plans, transferred to state databases, used by states, and ultimately sent to CMS. The status of the CMS T-MSIS project is discussed, as well as the future of Medicaid encounter data as a source of information for many stakeholders.

Description: Feature article discussing the high cost of prescription medicines in Canada.

Description: The presenters will compare and contrast the Canadian public (and, to a lesser extent, private) health care system in juxtaposition to U.S. health care. Specialized knowledge of either system is not required. The presentation will focus on cost containment strategies balanced against effective health care services. Differentiation of strategies, such as wellness and prevention in contrast to diagnosis and treatment, will be discussed.

Description: A multiway typology of measures of aging, longevity and superlongevity is presented, with measures classified as measures of aging and longevity, direct and indirect measures of aging and longevity, and measures based on population data, death statistics and life table functions.

Description: A Regulatory Perspective on Rate Review Before and After the Affordable Care Act

Description: Essential Health Benefits and Actuarial Value