Description: The International Actuarial Association Health Section, the Society of Actuaries International Section, and American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) published the report “International Health Care Funding 2020”. This article highlights the features of the report.

Description: Countries developing universal health care via an insurance vehicle face a variety of challenges. Deciding which benefits to include, where to proactively manage health, and how to reimburse network providers are just a sampling of the issues governments concurrently manage. Optimal choices are data-driven responses. For example, high rates of cervical cancer or increasing narcotics prescriptions are trends that can be managed through product changes, modified network payment structures, or even employer based outreach. This kind of information is typically gleaned from established health insurance claims data. However, in emerging health insurance markets, this level of granular claims data is largely missing. It is difficult to manage medical trend when the root causes are unclear. This article explores a pilot medical underwriting project in Jordan.

Description: How to effectively retain top talent is a challenge that all employers face and an area in which employee benefits have been playing an increasingly important role. Traditionally, the market has been very competitive, with generic products mainly focused on outpatient and inpatient medical reimbursement, Term Life cover and accidental benefits. For large multinationals, employee benefits are often tailor-made solutions arranged via international brokers whereas small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are more likely to utilize standard packages offered by insurance companies via agents. This article explores the evolution of employee benefits in Asia.