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: 2014 marked a new beginning for small group(SG) health insurance market ushered in with adjusted community rated products priced from a single risk pool. It was anticipated that the mandated pooling of the risk would result in higher rates, especially for healthier groups. It is the aim of this article to show whether that view bears out in the actual market rates and if it is higher, then by how much. The article provides a point in time(1st quarter 2025) comparison of premium rates under two segments of the small group market, namely Qualified Health Plans(QHP) available under the small group ACA market versus self-insured Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements(MEWA) plans.

Description: Read the December 2019 issue of Health Watch, published by the Health Section. Practical information for actuaries, articles impact sections, section activities.

Description: Update on Health Section research projects and topics, including health care reform, complexity science, and strategic planning.

Description: When designing and pricing a healthcare product, it is not only important to know how to model frequency and severity, but it is essential to understand human behavior. Of course, the issue of anti-selection in medical insurance is well known as individuals know more about their health and prior expenditures than an insurer does. This type of behavior is certainly rational, and to be expected.

Description: Inspired by other financial savings products available to Canadians, this article describes a potential solution for financing future health expenses with the creation of a Registered Health Savings Account (RHSA). This solution has been thought on the basis of four premises : 1- Individual Accountability for Health Expenses; 2- Early Savings Leads to More Accumulation; 3-PreferredTax Treatment for Personal Health Savings; 4- Complementing current public and private health systems; Main elements of the RHSA are described (Contributions, Accumulation, Utilization of account, Management by financial institutions).RHSA'S expected balances and some other results under three scenarios (a person in good health, one in poor health, and one with unexpected death at age 45) are summarized in a table. Health expenses deducted yearly from RHSA's balance were estimated using total, per capita, provincial government health expenditures by age-band for Canada, in 2020, from the Canadian Institute of Heath Information’s (CIHI), which account for 71.8% of total expenditures, that is public + private. Thus 28.2% of total expenditures were used for private health expenditures, then forecasted to 2024 and projected using a 4% annual trend. Some objections to the solution explored were anticipated as well as some refutations to these objections.

Description: CMS has pioneered innovative strategies for Medicare and Medicaid to address Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). Employers can learn from these models to implement similar approaches for their employee populations. Learn how employers can understand and address SDOH, the incentives for doing so, and the broader benefits.

Description: Learn more about Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSMs) and their functionality as health insurance. These nonprofit companies pool money from participating members to assist with members' healthcare coverage. Further exploring HCSMs, some of the offered arrangements of this plan operate differently and with a unique regulatory framework. HCSM enrollment has grown 1000% since solidification as a law in the ACA. By signing up for this webcast, you can discover why HCSMs are becoming a key component of the individual market in some states.

Description: This report examines the demographic, medical, and pharmaceutical profiles of HIV-positive individuals in Medicare and how their needs differ from the general Medicare population.