Description: This report is a comprehensive survey of existing literature on mortality and race and ethnicity in the United States, examining disparities in mortality rates among different racial and ethnic groups. It explores factors influencing mortality differentials, including socioeconomic status, health care access, and other relevant aspects.

Description: The aftershocks of the COVID pandemic will pass --- eventually. Government subsidies and spending soared in 2020 to meet the challenges of the pandemic. Health expenditures leapt from 17.6% of GDP to 19.7%, and then dropped to 18.8% in 2021, and will fall again to 18.2% (projected) in 2022, but are expected to return to the long-run trend by 2024 and gradually rise thereafter. However, during the next few years most attention will be paid to dealing with complex aftershocks from the flood of Covid funding in 2020 and 2021, a surge of inflation in 2022, and a looming recession in 2023.

Description: COVID has washed over healthcare like a tsunami—things have been tossed in all directions. According to Medicare actuaries, trends have been turned upside down in 2021, but will reverse back in 2023 as medical costs rebound. It is more prudent to base projections on long run trends for a period after the storm, extrapolating from 2026 forward, leaving the intervening turbulence (years 2022 -2025) mostly unspecified.

Description: This Society of Actuaries Research Brief has been constructed to highlight some of the key features of the pandemic and contemplate the risks for the actuarial profession to consider in their work.

Description: This report provides highlights of a weekly survey of practices regarding the mitigation of the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. during the final four months of. The survey asks about the degree to which the respondents perceive that people in their community are following 21 common mitigation practices. The responses are separated by state and compared to state level statistics regarding the level of COVID-19 infections from the Johns Hopkins COVID database for the same time period.

Description: This report provides highlights of a weekly survey of practices regarding the mitigation of the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. during the final four months of 2020 and the first four months of 2021. The survey asks about the degree to which the respondents perceive that people in their community are following 21 common mitigation practices. The responses are separated by state and compared to state level statistics regarding the level of COVID-19 infections from the Johns Hopkins COVID database for the same time period.

Description: Pharmacy prices are top of mind for many consumers, policymakers, and payers. While there have been many efforts to reduce pharmacy costs over the years, many believe these efforts only helped us cope with the symptoms of the problem without providing a comprehensive cure for the underlying causes of this problem. The Society of Actuaries Health Section sponsored this Pharmacy Partnership Forum to gather multi-disciplinary experts in the pharmacy ecosystem. This report shares the insights and learnings that emerged from this group of health economics outcomes researchers, clinical pharmacists, medical doctors, health actuaries, benefits consultants and brokers, and their collective thoughts on advancing this exploration for society’s benefit.

Description: Sam Gutterman's winning essay.

Description: This paper is a discussion on miscellaneous topics such as 1. if the new form annual statement proposed by a subcommittee of the Blanks Committee of the NAIC involves any problems and 2. what factors have prompted life insurance to consider entering the personal accident and the health insurance field. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1951, Vol. 3, No. 6.

Description: This report provides highlights of a weekly survey of practices regarding the mitigation of the spread of COVID���19 in the U.S. during the second half of March 2021 along with comparisons to prior half���month time periods. The survey asks about the degree to which the respondents perceive that people in their community are following 21 common mitigation practices. The responses are separated by state and compared to state level statistics regarding the level of COVID���19 infections from the Johns Hopkins COVID database for the same time period.