Description: Lower costs doesn't necessarily help ACA markets. It often makes things worse.

Description: The US healthcare system is among the world's most advanced, but is the highest-cost by far. At Swiss Re we studied the highest-cost US Medicare beneficiaries during 2016. The Medicare government program primarily covers seniors and individuals with disabilities. Total Medicare spending during 2016 was nearly USD 700,000,000,000. In our study, the 1% of beneficiaries with costs of USD 125,000 or higher generated 15% of total claim costs. Better understanding of these beneficiaries and their treatment could lead to improved quality and efficiency of care. Analysis of their claims can aid projections of the expected level and variance of costs. We calculated claim costs and rates, and identified higher-cost segments (including inpatient claims, individuals with disabilities or end-stage renal disease, Pacific states including California, and men). We look forward to expanding the analysis in future updates.

Description: Read the August 2020 issue of Health Watch published by the Health Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Dataset to accompany Fifty States, Fifty Stories: A Decade of Health Care Reform Under the Affordable Care Act - Technical Report

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

Description: This Society of Actuaries, working with LIMRA, Oliver Wyman and the American Council of Life Insurers, is releasing a series of pulse surveys aimed at obtaining a quick read on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting insurance companies and reinsurers.

Description: A Brief covering the impact of COVID-19 on mental health.

Description: Read the October 2020 issue of Health Watch published by the Health Section. Newsletters provided practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Insurance commissioners and deputy insurance commissioners will discuss current topics including health care reform, life insurance issues, risks in the major medical markets, voluntary products and other topics.

Description: The presenters will explore the roles of mental health and social determinants of health in the management of a population's total health. We will explore how emerging sources of data and information have led to a renewed focus on managing mental health conditions and social determinants of health. Speakers will address current health care programs that utilize this data and information to manage the total care for populations using predictive models to improve the deployment of resources and initiatives to improve the cost of care and health of populations. The presenters will also look at how providers of care are approaching mental health co-morbidities to manage physical health and social determinants of health in the management of patients.