Description: This article describes the results of three years of work by Blue Shield of California to collaborate with hospitals and physician organizations to reduce cost and improve quality for commercial populations in targeted geographies.

Description: Presented at April 1985 Spring Meeting. Addresses questions being asked about the future of health care financing: 1. Will the traditional insurer-based program be the predominant financing mechanism in the future? 2. Will Preferred Provider Organizations, Health Maintenance Organizations or other mechanisms displace current approaches? What additional institutions will enter this field? 3. What major factors will determine the outcome?

Description: Presented at June 1986 Spring Meeting. This session discussion is about the status of state and federal regulations regarding the development of PPOs and other alternate delivery systems and anti-trust laws affecting PPO development.

Description: Presented at October 1986 Annual Meeting. This session discussion is about joint ventures between Health Maintenance Organizations 'HMOs' and insurance companies, dual or triple option rating strategies, how these ventures are structured from a financial standpoint, and how separate organizational objectives are met.

Description: Summary of testimony by an AAA Board member before a congressional subcommittee, as an expert on risk assessment and adjustment, especially in relation to Medicare risk contracting and HMO payments. She recommended: mitigating the geographical region values, credibility weights for payments to health plans, carving out high cost claim segments, reengineering the ACR methodology, shifting AAPCC methodology from fee-for-service toward competitive bidding, and further projects to improve risk methods.

Description: The traditional informal care of/by family has faced increasing geographic and economic challenges from changing family households and sources of family income. Financial planning and risk protection tools provide important resource in the changing retirement landscape toward optimal family support and crisis management, that is, with less duress and financial burden to affected family caregivers. Ultimately, maintaining family values and close communications through evolving family structures are key to a healthy society and economic welfare of the people.

Description: The International Actuarial Association Health Section, the Society of Actuaries International Section, and American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) published the report “International Health Care Funding 2020”. This article highlights the features of the report.

Description: Review of reimbursement methodologies APGs, APCs, Medicare ASC, discount on charges, commercial hybrid, methods and trends in contracting, impact on trent, benchmarking. Issue No. 44.

Description: This article discusses techniques used to create risk scores to help determine appropriate primary care panel sizes for a provider organization.

Description: This report evaluates alternative payment models that potentially could be instituted by healthcare payers and manufacturers.