Description: An update on HMO market trends and reinsurance products, and services supporting them.

Description: This article discusses the growing number of cases of dementia and its effects on economics and loved ones.

Description: This article presents a view of health care as an economic system, suggests a framework for classifying current criticisms of the system, and offers references for further reading.

Description: Report on the activities of the Academy’s health practice council and its work groups.

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: MACRA not only impact providers, it will impact the entire healthcare market. MACRA published studies and commentary to date have primarily focused on providers, with the majority of the information addressing the impacts to clinicians. However, our investigation indicates MACRA has far reaching impacts to payers as well as providers. MACRA is impacting each geographic market and line of business in a unique way, and health payers will have multiple strategic decisions to consider given the changing market dynamics.

Description: An overview of the issues behind reimbursing providers on a bundled or packaged basis. The article presents the potential advantages offered by the proponents as well as the criticisms and obstacles to implementing this type of payment system.

Description: Feature article discussing the high cost of prescription medicines in Canada.

Description: New research shows that we often make sub-optimal choices, when selecting a health insurance plan, that lead to unnecessary out-of-pocket expenditu