Description: The Canadian public health care delivery system continues to experience growing needs for increased funding. The total health care delivery system today costs Canadians $98 billion a year or about 9.7 percent of GDP. Of that total cost, 71 percent is paid by the government, which means the taxpayers. While that may pale in comparison to the costs in the U.S., it does make the Canadian system one of the five most expensive health care delivery systems in the world. While today’s cost pressures are of major concern, of even more concern are the costs being projected by many participants in the current health care debate for the period when the Baby Boom makes higher demands on the Canadian health care delivery system. Traditional projection methods, however, do not differentiate between the elderly who survive the year versus those who die as to their use of health care systems. This paper first looks at the impact that this differentiation could have on projected costs. Second, the paper looks at the impact that the wide use of Advance Directives [also called Living Wills] might have on future health care costs and some of the issues surrounding their use. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 2004, Vol. 1.

Description: Chapter 4 review the evolution of the health care system in Canada, and how an aging population will create cost-escalation pressures on the health care system. The chapter does not address issues concerning the efficiency and efficacy of the present health care system. From Economic Security for an Aging Canadian Population, M-RS99-2.

Description: Chapter 3 analyzes the sources of retirement income security within a system of three interdependent tiers of support: government, employer, and individual. Further, this chapter proposes that these three are part of a larger wealth transfer mechanism including other systems such a s health care and employment insurance. From Economic Security for an Aging Canadian Population, M-RS99-2.

Description: There is growing evidence of a positive correlation between income levels and longevity. In short, high-income earners live longer. That also means that high-income earners get larger retirement-income security benefits from Social Security. This correlation raises a number of questions: if Social Security contributions are a level percentage of earnings, and high-income earners live longer and receive larger Social Security benefits, then is Social Security regressive? If higher-income actually causes enhanced longevity, then would providing more Social Security benefits enhance population life expectancy? This paper analyzes both the OASDI system of the United States and the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans in Canada to see if these systems are 'a good deal' and whether they are regressive or progressive as defined above. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1998 Vol. 1.

Description: Paper provides an overview of the impacts of population aging on the design and marketing of group life and health and group pension products over the next 40 years. While the paper is written with a group focus, the implications of the material for individual product design and marketing are immediately obvious and equally important. From the Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1994, Vol. 46.

Description: This paper is the final report in a project commissioned by the Society of Actuaries Social Security Committee. The paper considers a variety of possible risk classification factors that could be used in estimating the value of any mortality based benefit for retirees. As many countries consider mandatory individual retirement accounts as their answer to a secure Social Security system, the question arises as to whether all workers can get true 'market value' annuities when they retire. It is clear today that private sector life annuities are priced assuming that the applicant is healthy-very healthy. Very little underwriting or risk classification now exists in the individual annuity marketplace. This paper reviews 45 recent research papers that look at factors that affect mortality after retirement. In particular, factors that seem to be important in predicting retirement mortality include: age, gender, race and ethnicity, education, income, occupation, marital status, religion, health behaviors, smoking, alcohol, and obesity. For each factor, this paper gives highlights relative to the named factor of the impact expected from that variable as described in the 45 reviewed research papers.

Description: This session from the 1984 SOA New York City Meeting discusses the investment implications of an aging population including the affect on the national savings rate, economic growth, the dependence on social security and opportunities for the insurance industry. From Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 10, No. 3

Description: Panelists at this session of the SOA Maui II Spring Meeting discuss how well the U.S. and Candian social security systems have met the criteria for an equitable system. An Australian actuary discusses his paper 'The Development of Some Criteria for Equity and National Retirement Income Systems.'

Description: Chapter 7 analyzes the demographic variables that could have an effect on the future costs of social security, and then discusses a wealth-transfer model that could be used to stabilize the financing of Canada's total social security system and that would also lower the ultimate cost of Canada's retirement income security programs. From Economic Security for an Aging Canadian Population, M-RS99-2.

Description: Chapter 2 examines the interdependence and interconnectedness of demographic,, economic, and political factors that are driving the move for reforms in the Canadian pension system. The chapter also examines economic patterns among Canadian elderly. From Economic Security for an Aging Canadian Population, M-RS99-2.