Description: Since health care reform has made accountable care organizations a hot topic, an SOA workgroup is addressing relevant questions, including provider risk under various ACO models, limitations of the Medicare model for motivating change in the health care delivery system, strategic priorities, attribution of members, meaurement, and the roles actuaries can play.

Description: Coverage of Medicaid home and community-based services under the 1915(i) state plan option: Attractive features and important considerations

Description: As actuaries in health care, we spend most of our time focused on reviewing claims, enrollment and clinical data. That information is captured while patients are in health care facilities. Yet most people spend only a small fraction of their time in these facilities. This article explores what types of data are available to actuaries the provide a more holistic view of the member so that a members physical and emotional needs, the social determinants of health can be taken into consideration along with their clinical needs. Two uses cases are presented so actuaries can see how these types of analyses can be leveraged to improve clinical, operational, and financial performance of risk bearing health entities. Understanding the customer (member) not just the patient enables actuaries to provide new insights and values to our stakeholders across a wide range of business and risk applications.

Description: ACA risk adjustment is intended to "bridge the gap" between allowed rates and actuarial rates. If risk adjustment methodology is not bridging that gap & becomes an additional input to pricing formulae, it is not serving its intended purpose.

Description: This article provides an overview of behavioral economic theory as it relates to health and welfare insurance plans and provides summaries of two sample applications of the theories: enrollment in health insurance exchanges created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and product design considerations in light of vast health illiteracy.

Description: What is the difference between a Single-Payer and Universal Health Care System, and how could the U.S. implement a system that would reduce the growth of medical costs while increasing quality.

Description: Actuaries are currently familiar with the impact of new technologies used primarily by clinicians and health care providers, such as new drugs and devices. The common theme emerging from many of the articles points to a technological revolution in health care accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis this year. Actuaries need to understand these technologies, their impact, learn how to drive this technological change and guide the response of their profession and their own health care organizations.

Description: More and more providers are desiring risk-based contracts instead of traditional FFS-based contracts. This session is intended to outline some of the actuarial best practices in risk-based contracting related to the many flavors of the CMS ACO programs, as well as Commercial risk-based contracts.

Description: The session covers strategies and products health plans are developing to address consumer choice. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 27, No. 1, Session 121

Description: The big event of 2023 is the launch of multiple Humira biosimilars, which began in January with the arrival of Amgen’s Amjevita on the market. The launch of Amjevita kicks off the process of changing the specialty drug marketplace in the United States. The expectation of the full impact of this big event is very hopeful, but there is still uncertainty several months after its beginning. Humira is the highest-selling drug in the world and has been since 2013 (Figure 1)—except for when COVID-19 projects temporarily surpassed it. The world is eagerly awaiting the launch of multiple biosimilar drugs to compete with Humira and hopefully bring more competitive pricing to the benefit of payers and patients everywhere.