Description: Telehealth came to the forefront in a significant way during – 2020–2021, partially due to the pandemic. What is the reasonable expectation of future consumer use of telehealth? This virtual option has the ongoing potential to increase access to health care services to plausibly lower the cost of care. Furthermore, telehealth continues to evolve as a technology. Keeping current with advancements as well as consumer willingness to use this medium are important to the future of health insurance. By attending this session, you will learn about the latest advancements in telehealth as well as implications for cost of care due to consumer use.

Description: It’s well documented that oral health is correlated with overall health. An exciting array of new dental technologies is emerging, from virtual reality through AI to CRISPR. These ground-breaking advancements have the potential to revolutionize dentistry.

Description: Informal caregiving is a major source of long-term care (LTC) and long-term supports and services (LTSS) more broadly. The benefit of informal caregiving is appreciated by those receiving it, and most caregivers find purpose in their work. The costs of caregiving fall on employers, other family members, the health care service sector, stakeholders in the LTSS system, and most importantly the caregivers themselves. Providing support to these caregivers can therefore benefit employers, employees, and their families, as well as the many payors of formal LTSS. Hear from three experts in caregiving who will provide their perspective about how to support information caregivers — operationally and financially — to help them succeed in their purpose. Understand benefits this support can have to the other stakeholders in today’s LTSS system. By attending this session, you will be able to: • Explain the importance of informal caregivers to stakeholders in the LTSS system, including the impact to payors and employers. • Describe the challenges informal caregivers face, and paths to success and avoiding burnout. • Discuss potential future financial solutions that may benefit caregivers, including employee programs and insurance opportunities.

Description: This study would assess the impact of recent patient care innovation(s) on health care and the health insurance industry.

Description: A study of whether tobacco, area and industry rating in one state may be reflecting unintended factors such as race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. This study does not consider whether the rating factors accurately reflect underlying claims costs.

Description: The SOA Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is interested in a broad exploration of issues related to aging and retirement for LGBTQ+ people. In issuing this call for essays, the Program aims to gather perspectives, opinions and data on the short and long-term consequences of applicable aging and retirement issues for a variety of stakeholders -- individuals, partners, family members, employers, financial advisors, and others --- and how these impacts may be felt both directly and indirectly. A primary aspect of this call for essays is to explore how retirement-related outcomes are experienced by LGBTQ+ people and the diversity of experiences within this group. Another aspect is to promote enhanced understanding of the underlying issues surrounding these differences. In this regard, there is interest in furthering understanding from an informational perspective and/or generating ideas for potential solutions and improvements.

Description: The rules governing the framework of Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces continue to be refined at the state and federal level. The catalyst for such changes has been a desire to improve markets, which has been primarily informed by data and experience in the ACA's first decade. This session will feature a panel of consulting actuaries, a state policy advisor who has influenced ACA legislation, and an attorney deeply involved in ACA risk adjustment litigation. Discussion will include new federal proposals, efforts to strengthen enforcement of rating compliance, new actuarial insights from public data, and the anticipated future implications for ACA markets. By attending this session, you will be able to: • Understand what precipitated risk adjustment lawsuits and how proposed federal rules address these concerns. • Identify how state regulators are addressing premium misalignment between metal levels and shaping local policies. • Develop new insights on publicly available data. • Understand the implications these policy changes will have on the future of pricing health insurance benefits, consumer value and enrollment distributions in ACA marketplaces. • Understand the primary factors leading to ACA market success.

Description: A study of whether tobacco, area and industry rating in one state may be reflecting unintended factors such as race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. This study does not consider whether the rating factors accurately reflect underlying claims costs.

Description: The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute, as a component of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Research Program, would like to broadly explore issues pertaining to LGBTQ+ individuals that relate to a variety of types of insurance.

Description: The Research Executive Committee (REC) of the SOA Research Institute oversees the funding of the Emerging Issues Pool. This key source of research funding is used to sponsor projects that are beneficial to the entire profession, across practice area boundaries that may require funding levels beyond the normal annual funding budgets of research committees and sections. The REC is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) to fulfill the strategic goals of the organization through the use of this pool for funding new projects.