Description: In this session, we will review how the previous and current concerns of pharmacy actuaries will affect the forecasting and review of upcoming pipeline events. After this session, attendees will have a broader understanding of the implications of what is coming next in the pharmacy pipeline and how they can be thinking about it.

Description: Inspired by Seinfeld's Festivus celebration, our panel will conduct a lighthearted but technically robust airing of grievances related to the Medicare Star Rating program. Over the past decade, the Medicare Star Rating program has undergone an array of methodological changes.

Description: Pandemics are a main driver of losses for both life and non-life (re-)insurance. Until COVID-19, risk assessment mostly relied on a few historic examples, most importantly the Spanish flu. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that other pathogens (namely the coronaviruses) need to be taken into account. Also, modern societies and governments drastically respond to novel threats and implement measures such as social distancing, mask mandates, and lockdowns. Besides the properties of the pathogen itself, these reactions and the medical progression (namely the development of vaccines) are key influences on the course of a pandemic, and thus also the resulting outcomes. To account for the new insights, join us as we take a look at a stochastic, age-structured compartmental model that is calibrated on recent pandemics with several parameters sets to model different levels of reaction speed and stringency between groups of countries. Other important factors also must be defined in close collaboration with experts. Get ready to explore the development of a model and framework that can provide potential outcomes to be used as the basis to derive both summary and tail statistics to assess pandemic risk and help price complex deals.

Description: This session includes a new idea based on dynamic treatment regime work (OWL) and integrating cost into this work. This will enable identifying the best treatment for a patient based on both outcomes and cost. This is novel for actuaries because in previous analysis we have used cost only in the after-analysis, whereas here we use it in the actual analysis and treatment identification. Moreover, this analysis provides a way to consider multiple treatments for a patient (including the no treatment option) and choosing among those multiple treatments, for both outcomes and cost. This session will share the background theory and set up a case study. The case study will parallel what is in the analysis in the book by Ian Duncan 'Predicting Hospital Readmission with Case Management Recommendation.' This analysis will then go further to compare a situation where there are multiple potential case managers. Also, this will potentially explore care pathways and choosing the best care pathway for a patient based on health outcomes and cost combined.

Description: Traditional Medicare [TM] has many coverage gaps and no out-of-pocket maximum. Most members must purchase a Medicare Supplement Plan and a Part D plan for pharmacy coverage. Over 50% of members have opted for a Medicare Advantage [MA] plan that replaces TM and the need to purchase a Supplement and (in most cases) a Part D plan. All this for less cost to the member, but at a greater overall cost to the federal government even though MA plans provide TM benefits for less than it costs the government. The attendee will learn why this occurs. However, given these facts, the focus of the session will be on the future of Medicare: namely, should the parameters regarding MA bids and payments be limited to what is paid for TM, or can we take the best administrative techniques of MA and TM to provide more robust benefits for all Medicare members at a cost no greater than the government is currently paying? Or is there an even better idea?

Description: Panel discussion of managers of actuaries discussing do's and don'ts of managing actuaries in a virtual world. When employees no longer come into the office five days per week, eight hours each day, how do you maintain productivity, team building, morale? How do you facilitate team work and ensure camaraderie is improved? The great reset, not the great resignation! As employees figure out if they want to be 100% remote, or 100% in the office, or somewhere in between, and employers determine their stance on in-office for virtual, the actuarial workforce is resetting itself with employees finding their lifestyle match with employers. Zoom, Teams, WebEx - 'you're on mute' might be the most used business phrase in the past 4 years! Managers can glean helpful insights that will make them more effective managing their actuarial teams.

Description: There are a variety of regulatory changes that are being contemplated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) that have the potential to materially impact actuarial, statutory reporting and disclosure requirements relating to reinsurance. This session will provide an introduction to these changes, explaining both the motivation as well as the potential impact these proposed changes may have on US ceding companies. The focus of the presentation will be primarily on changes affecting Asset Adequacy Testing and statutory risk transfer for combination Coinsurance / Yearly Renewable Term agreements. An update will be provided regarding industry responses to proposed changes and the potential timing for implementation of these new requirements.

Description: This session will focus on the topic of Bermuda Reinsurance: Operational Readiness for Changes. The presenters will examine the current state of the reinsurance industry in Bermuda and explore the operational strategies that companies must consider to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market. The discussion will cover regulatory updates, and market shifts that are influencing the way reinsurance businesses operate. The presenters will also discuss operational capabilities and organizational structure to think about when designing a new entity.

Description: Prescription drug markets are undergoing rapid change - significant policy changes implemented through the Inflation Reduction Act, Congressional interest in long-awaited 340b reform, and a growing direct-to-consumer market have already changed the landscape significantly. The ongoing effects of these changes will continue to evolve for many years. Hear from leading prescription drug actuaries and pharmacy policy experts on what these changes mean for prescription drug markets and US healthcare more broadly.

Description: This session will discuss the existing and potential tax-favored opportunities for LTC insurance. It will use non-actuarial and actuarial tax experts to discuss the existing (and potentially non-controversial legislative possibilities) to deal with the impending societal issues associated with the baby boomers progressing towards a tidal wave of long-term care needs that will mostly be funded through a Medicaid system that will be unable to deal with it.