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: Analysis of possible mathematical relationships between hospital quality and hospital billed or allowed charges or other measures, using quality data as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services along with the Hospital Quality Alliance for their Hospital Quality Initiative.

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: This paper identifies and discusses issues affecting retirees’ abilities to successfully navigate medical insurance choices after their employer retiree medical insurance group benefit plan has been terminated and replaced by an outsourced health reimbursement account (HRA) providing accessibility to a stipend through eligible medical insurance claims submissions.

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

Description: The traditional informal care of/by family has faced increasing geographic and economic challenges from changing family households and sources of family income. Financial planning and risk protection tools provide important resource in the changing retirement landscape toward optimal family support and crisis management, that is, with less duress and financial burden to affected family caregivers. Ultimately, maintaining family values and close communications through evolving family structures are key to a healthy society and economic welfare of the people.

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.