Description: Current Status of managing costs & increasing costs, Future Direction of Consumerism, technology and defined contribution health plans. Issue No. 39.

Description: Discussion of steps that can be taken to control costs and future plan design changes. Part 2 of a 2 part series. Issue No. 48.

Description: An article in the September 2008 issue of Health Watch in which the author passes along some thoughts to those who may be participating in the health care debate this time around.

Description: Health care predictive analytics varies between payers and providers as well as being a powerful tool in business decision modeling.

Description: This article discusses Accountable Care Organizations, how they work, managing risks and their expectations to bend the cost curve.

Description: Discussion of how to mature value-based contracts between health insurers and provider organizations to improve population health and financial sustainability. Centers around contract parameter consistency, revenue predictability and risk assessment. Intended audience are health plan and ACO actuaries and leaders. Authors are writing from the provider perspective in value-based contracts.

Description: This article reviews Canada's Medicare Plan, the Chaoulli Supreme Court decision and looks at factors affecting waiting times. From Health Watch Newsletter, May 2006, Issue No. 52.

Description: Discusses challenges faced by the people living in the remote town of Brewster, Nebraska.

Description: This article provides a detailed description of the unbalanced subsidy provisions in the Affordable Care Act with easy to follow numerical illustrations. An understanding of the illustrative calculations is necessary to understand the subsidy implications. The article highlights some surprising and likely unintended results that will be interest to issuers, employers, consumers, regulators and policymakers. Actuaries can add expertise to their clients and to the public discussion with a proper understanding of the subsidy calculations and the resulting implications.

Description: This article provides an overview of the financial results of managed care plans over time using a collection of the NAIC financial statements.