Description: This article provides an overview of behavioral economic theory as it relates to health and welfare insurance plans and provides summaries of two sample applications of the theories: enrollment in health insurance exchanges created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and product design considerations in light of vast health illiteracy.

Description: To advise the management of a company on the most prominent disruptors that are going to increase its health expenditure in the next 5 years.

Description: Feature article with helpful hints on video conferencing and more!

Description: The Society of Actuaries has developed and released a health care forecast model to illustrate the potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on insurance plan health care costs in the United States. Users of the model may include insurance company actuaries seeking an additional reference point for 2021 cost development, regulatory actuaries seeking additional insights and validation of costs as part of rating submissions for 2021, and insurance purchasers seeking a deeper understanding of the forces driving 2021 health care costs and premiums. The model is not intended as a replacement for existing modeling tools developed by insurers or regulators. Rather, the model’s primary purpose is to illustrate the key outbreak-related forces that are affecting the trajectory of health care costs. In addition the model can provide a common reference point to facilitate dialogue with respect to the regulatory review of 2021 health insurance rate filings.

Description: An essay suggesting one solution in theory would be to create a system similar to Medicare Advantage for the entire American population.

Description: A report analyzing the cost of care for deceased cancer patients over the last six months of life.

Description: This study aims to answer the question of how much of an episode’s cost and use of specific services can be attributed to the patient’s own health status, as opposed to being driven by other factors such as the care setting, patient preference, and provider practice patterns. In other words, do episode costs vary so widely because of patient characteristics, including health status, or are they related to other, nonclinical factors?

Description: The objective of this project is to summarize the existing literature on end of life issues of interest to actuaries, and to document a broad list of such articles. The end of life issues explored are multi-dimensional and from multiple perspectives. When considering cost implications of end of life care, it is necessary to consider cost in a broad context as it is a measure that cannot solely be defined by dollars. Other dimensions of cost, such as quality of care, family care giving, communication, patient preferences and access to care, should also be explored.

Description: Paper on the number and growth of the uninsured and underinsured in health insurance. Reviews literature on the following items trends in the number of uninsured, state policy activities, disparities in access, health care access and the health care safety net.

Description: Discussion of steps that can be taken to control costs and future plan design changes. Part 2 of a 2 part series. Issue No. 48.