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 presents the results of a May 2010 survey by the Society of Actuaries SOA asking members of the SOA Health Section for their opinions on ways to bend the cost curve in light of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ACA, the new health reform law passed in March 2010.

Description: This session dealt with Regulatory Considerations in Group Insurance. Topics included: 1. National health insurance. 2. Federal hospital cost control programs. 3. Non-discrimination legislation and regulation. 4. Multiple- employer trusts. 5. Impact of recent OASDI financing changes. 6. Changes in mandatory retirement age on group insurance.

Description: The Society of Actuaries, the SOA Pension Section, the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the American Society of Pension Actuaries are contributing funds in support of efforts to get the actuarial profession more involved in modeling that addresses national retirement income policy and health care reform. The first project will be a feasibility study to analyze each major existing database/model and investigate whether it would be practical to access it or to extend it into a new macrodemographic model.

Description: This is a summary of topics discussed at the 1996 Bowles Symposium: “The Old Age Crisis: Actuarial Opportunities,” September 26-27, 1996, at Georgia State University, Atlanta.

Description: Panel discussion of prospects for cost containment of, and alternatives to, fee-for-service health care, and management of health care under national health insurance. Discussion points include cost containment devices, HMOs, economic impact, cost escalation, self-insurance, stop-loss, claims administration, loss of state premium taxes, and Phase 3 tax problems under NH1.

Description: Remarks on the attitudes underlying the stalling of health care reform legislation.

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.

Description: A proposal to address provider payment issues by gradually moving to accountable care organizations. Capitations would be risk-adjusted, non-capitated costs would be covered by hospitalization fund and stoploss, incentives for quality & effective preventive care would be tied to the amount remaining in the fund, and government involvement would be through incentives rather than mandate.

Description: Feature article from the January 2010 issue of In The Public Interest discussing the need for actuarial leadership in the reform of the U.S. health care system.