Description: Panel covers a variety of current issues in the Medicare supplement marketplace, including the impact of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Issues affecting both managed care and traditional Medicare supplement are discussed. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 3.

Description: The panel offers a summary of the Medicare Modernization Act signed into law in 2003, which implemented sweeping changes to the Medicare program. Topics include Medicare Advantage, the impact on Medicare Supplement, Part D, and the impact on retiree health plans. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 30, No. 3, Session 127

Description: This article provides an introduction to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 and looks at how the Medicare prescription drug plan will affect the commercial market as well as, what PDPs will offer for benefits and if any will offer supplemental benefits. From Health Section News, March 2005, Issue No. 49.

Description: Panelists discuss different aspects of self-selection among Medicare options. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 2.

Description: The moderator will review senior health products: Medicare supplement, Medicare risk, hospital indemnity policy HIP, cancer, accidental death AD, and employer continuance. Discussion will include product design, pricing, administration, regulation, and marketing. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 1.

Description: Provides background about Prescription Drug Plans, PDPs, and the standard benefit package offered under Medicare Part D. It also provides a basic overview of the bid-development process for a PDP and summarizes some general strategies and observations used in developing the 2006 bids that will likely be used for 2007.

Description: Panelists explore issues facing carriers of Medicare Supplement products, including high trend, fixed designs, limited underwriting ability, legislation, National Association of Insurance Commissioners [NAIC] pursuits, and the American Academy of Actuaries [AAA] task force. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 27, No. 1, Session 66

Description: In session 26PD of the 2004 Valuation Actuary Symposium, discussed is how the new Medicare prescription drug legislation creates a number of issues for employers and managed-care plans. Employers must determine the impact of the legislation on their retiree prescription drug costs, evaluate options for plan design and make decisions about how to reflect the effect of the legislation in their FAS 106 valuations. Managed-care plans need to review the effect of the legislation on plan design, statutory filings and financial reporting for their Medicare products.

Description: This article compares the Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) market to the commercial individual market exchanges included in the Affordable Care Act. PDP carrier actions to date could help predict certain aspects of the exchange market.

Description: A proposal to reform current health care market, from a 'preferred payer' system, in which Medicare and Medicaid pay less than the true cost while others must then pay more, to a 'value for money' system. This would be achieved by requiring providers to bill all patients the same rate for the same services, with a standard bundling format to make all providers' rate differences transparent. Differences between billed charges and what Medicare pays would be made up by the Medicare patient, rather than subsidized by those outside of Medicare.