Description: Dealing with more known unknowns? More scary knowns? Or unknown unknowns? What is the next unthinkable? What future events should actuaries actively be modelling and keep us up at night? The Catastrophe & Climate Strategic Research Program of the Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA) put forth a call for essays exploring these risks. The Program Steering Committee selected these essays submitted by Sam Gutterman and Max Rudolph to publish, and are awarding them each a prize of $500. The Catastrophe & Climate Strategic Research Program Steering Committee congratulates the authors and is happy to publish the winning essays on the SOA website.

Description: An update of selected key graphs from the Key Statistics section of previous COVID-19 briefs.

Description: WeChat is gradually becoming the main force of insurance online marketing for insurance products in China.

Description: 2021 ImpACT Conference - Session 4B: Post-COVID Strategies: Connecting Pandemic Outcomes, Health Equity and Fiscal Sustainability 10.26.21 Recording

Description: This article focuses on the recent surge of digital medicine data being seen in the healthcare industry. While an increase in data can generally be perceived as good, it is important to remember that current privacy practices need to be maintained, if not strengthened, to continually protect healthcare members. The COVID-19 pandemic helped fuel digital medicine data, but it also created new avenues for privacy to potentially be compromised (i.e. healthcare employees using personal devices while working from home). Digital medicine data is a very powerful asset, but it is also a massive responsibility. If mishandled, this data can cause more harm than good.

Description: Article discussing how the pursuit of value-based care as a consequence of health care reform laws such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Medicare Modernization Act has accelerated the use of risk adjustment and what it means to actuaries.

Description: Provides background on the Brazilian insurance authority's ban of the group life rider benefit for Total and Permanent Disability due to illness, TPD. Then discusses alternative benefits that could be offered as replacements.