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: As the medicine practice continues to evolve, join us for this webcast to receive up-to-date information about the incorporation of scientific advancements and emerging evidence into the field. The creation of innovative treatments and the focus on improving patient outcome can cause information and price shocks, which will be one of the covered topics. Expect to utilize this webcast as an introduction to precision medicine, which is a genetics-based approach to healthcare. Speakers will share their experiences in demonstrating cost-effectiveness and promoting reimbursement with this new approach.

Description: Explore the value and cost of prescription drugs, how they should be defined and measured and the effects various stakeholders in the pharmacy ecosystem can have on these factors in the latest webcast. You'll investigate the impact of coverage, formulary and rebate negotiations and related benefit design. Find out how actuaries can answer questions related to the prescription drug industry, in addition to improving the access, quality and affordability of prescription drugs in the United States. Join us for this webcast and come learn about value-based contract design, negotiations, implementation and administration for prescription drugs.

Description: In this Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute report, authored by consultants from Milliman, Inc. (Milliman) we aim to study the effects of hurricanes on human health: whether there is a relationship between hurricanes and the observed prevalence of healthcare utilization or certain health conditions among the affected population, whether this relationship can be observed through a healthcare utilization dataset, and whether there is an interaction between this observation and metrics of socioeconomic vulnerability.

Description: Listen to this discussion on a variety of subjects related to disability reserving (e.g. runoff analysis, estimating SSDI offsets). Case studies will be used to examine the potential impact of different approaches to these assumptions and experience studies on reserve estimates.

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

Description: Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) have made dramatic changes to the benefits and plan premiums they've offered members over the past years. Hear about information on the changes to benefits and plan premiums offered over the past few years. Find out where these strategic items are currently (for CY2024 bid year) and get ideas on what might come in the next few years. Presenters will discuss recent proposals and rules from CMS that will impact the current and future landscape. They will also compare these items in relation to the fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare market. This session will help you gain a deeper knowledge of the Medicare Advantage, Prescription Drug Plan, and Medicare FFS landscape and walk away with some strategic thoughts on potential paths MAOs may take from here.

Description: Discuss the dramatically changing provider landscape, as well as the innovative solutions being leveraged by providers to address the intriguing opportunities and complex challenges. Among the questions to be answered are the following: How can providers capitalize on employers’ desire to contract directly with local providers? What's the path for providers to develop employer stop-loss (ESL) capabilities to maximize network value/impact? Can providers create a risk portfolio including ESL for local employers, their own employee plan, and other delegated risk arrangements such as Medicare Advantage? How can captive insurers support a provider's risk strategy?

Description: Are you a health actuary affected by recent developments in business practices and accounting standards that have created situations in which you may be involved in estimating balances under accounting rules that differ from those typically used by insurers? In this session you will learn about situations where non-insurance accounting regimes may intersect actuarial practice, with an intended focus on two particular topics.

Description: The big event of 2023 is the launch of multiple Humira biosimilars, which began in January with the arrival of Amgen’s Amjevita on the market. The launch of Amjevita kicks off the process of changing the specialty drug marketplace in the United States. The expectation of the full impact of this big event is very hopeful, but there is still uncertainty several months after its beginning. Humira is the highest-selling drug in the world and has been since 2013 (Figure 1)—except for when COVID-19 projects temporarily surpassed it. The world is eagerly awaiting the launch of multiple biosimilar drugs to compete with Humira and hopefully bring more competitive pricing to the benefit of payers and patients everywhere.