Description: Seeking researchers to analyze long-term risk trends via survey data and develop engaging report formats for broad audiences.

Description: The use of Risk Adjustment in Medicare Advantage (MA) has come under scrutiny due in part to a higher rate of increase of costs of its participating Health plans relative to traditional Medicare despite statutory requirements that reimbursement for these two programs must be actuarially equivalent.

Description: This report is presented in the form of a Tableau dashboard and is the sixth public release from this report series and contains the results of an excess mortality analysis for the fourth quarter of 2021. Data from 30 companies representing approximately 69% of the industry’s face amount inforce were included in the analyses in this report. A total of 3.2 million death claims from individual life policies from 2015 through December 31, 2021 make up the basis of the analyses. The report also compares the experience under COVID-19 of the insured population versus the general population.

Description: This report covers the latest emerging trends in U.S. population mortality. The SOA relied upon data furnished by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Observations are based on the CDC’s recent release of 2021 mortality experience, along with prior mortality experience data from 1999 through 2020.

Description: LIMRA, Reinsurance Group of America (RGA), the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute, and TAI have collaborated on an ongoing effort to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the individual life insurance industry’s mortality experience and share the emerging results with the insurance industry and the public. This report documents a high-level analysis of the claims that have been reported.

Description: In the United States, individuals needing long-term services and supports (LTSS) access care, utilize services, and pay for their services in various ways. The authors explore how the need for, utilization of and payment for long-term services and supports differ in the U.S. by population cohorts. Their primary focus is disparity by race and ethnicity, but they also consider variations by geography, family structure, age, sex, gender and other socioeconomic factors.

Description: On January 12, 2023, the Arizona Blockchain Applied Research Center (AZ BARC) and the SOA Research Institute jointly ran a workshop on the use of blockchain technology in insurance and financial industries. The workshop included presentations focused on academic research in the blockchain space by Arizona State University, AZ BARC and an industry expert panel assembled by the SOA Research Institute. This document summarizes the research highlights and the discussions that occurred during the two-hour workshop.

Description: This report examines how the number of persons (“lives”) covered in a mortality study, and the length of the study period (in years), affects the statistical reliability of improvement rate estimates.

Description: This report gives an update on the Getzen Model of Long-Run Medical Cost Trends for 2025-2035+, providing insights on key considerations, input parameters, and projections. It includes observations on long-term medical cost trends, budgetary resistance, and regulatory impacts on healthcare expenditures.

Description: In the fourth quarter of 2022, publicly traded life insurers reported on their financial and operational activities, which included a downturn in income from alternative investments, the continuing impact of COVID, the impact of equity market returns on variable annuity products, and growth trends related to pension risk transfer transactions.