Description: Letter from the editor for the January 2013 publication.

Description: Discussion of the implications of the newly unveiled health care reform proposal by Senator Baucus. Key issues include abandonment of the CLASS Act, inclusion of LTC in cafeteria plans, funding and tax concerns, individual mandate, privacy concerns, play-or-pay employer mandate, impact on Medicare and Medicaid, and gridlock in the legislative finalization process.

Description: This article is about a consumer education program sponsored by the Society of Actuaries Foundation, “On the edge of change: Putting Social Security back in balance” and plans for a similar project dealing with Medicare in the future.

Description: Background on, and best practices guidelines for dealing with, bid reviews and audits for Medicare Advantage plans.

Description: The widening gap in life span between high- and low-income Americans may be eroding the progressivity of Social Security retirement benefits. Differential longevity trends have had the effect of raising lifetime benefits for high earners but not for low earners. Social Security’s long-term financial problems result in part from an increase in average life expectancy driven by wealthier people living longer, and, thereby, collecting more benefits. Policymakers should not use funding shortfalls attributable to these trends as an excuse to cut monthly benefits alike for those who have gained (high earners) and for those who haven’t (low earners).

Description: Updates on HPC activities, including new work groups for providing input to key players as health care reform moves on from the legislative phase into the regulatory phase, as well as ongoing activities of existing workgroups in financial reporting, long term care, stop loss, disease management, Medicare SUpplement, sovency, cancer claims experience, and risk adjustment.

Description: A list of acronyms for the names of the agencies, unions, and other organizations and entities involved in the French social insurance, health policy, and long-term care environment.

Description: Report on meetings sessions in each of 5 tracks for Long Term Care professionals: Actuarial, Compliance, Operations, Policy and Provers, and Group.

Description: Overview of SOA-sponsored seminars held in July 1978 in four cities to discuss current issues in the private sector relating to the new OASDI benefit formulas.