Description: There have been a variety of proposals related to expanding eligibility for Medicare, ranging from a publicly funded program to a full buy-in option. This session will explore the actuarial implications of various buy-in proposals and the potential impact that such policy changes could have on the health care market landscape. In particular, we will discuss the ways in which program eligibility requirements, plan designs, provider reimbursement arrangements, network design, rating rules, and subsidies could affect premium levels and membership volume in a Medicare buy-in market, as well as the potential side effects on providers and existing health care markets.

Description: This presents the results of a May 2010 survey by the Society of Actuaries SOA asking members of the SOA Health Section for their opinions on ways to bend the cost curve in light of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ACA, the new health reform law passed in March 2010.

Description: US pharmacy prices have entered a new era of growth driven by Specialty medications. A bevy of state and national regulations have been proposed to address pharmacy pricing, industry structure and transparency.Health actuaries will learn about US pharmacy pricing structure and how proposed legislation could affect future costs. Actuaries that have responsibility for pharmacy rate/budget setting, RFPs or trend projection will benefit from a deeper understanding of the US pharmacy market landscape and gain an international perspective.

Description: This session will review the challenges the Affordable Care Act has faced since its enactment in 2010 and will look forward to where it’s headed in the future. Panelists will discuss current ACA legislative and regulatory activities as well as ongoing ACA litigation.

Description: This presentation uses a dataset provided by a private insurance company which contained demographic, cost, and diagnostic data which allows the determination of which factors drove costs up and how these factors will affect the total cost for future years.

Description: There has been a proliferation of proposals to expand access to public health insurance plans, either to strengthen insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or to replace the ACA marketplaces or other health insurance programs altogether. These proposals range from creating a public plan that would operate alongside private plans in the ACA marketplaces, to allowing individuals to buy into Medicare or Medicaid, to expanding Medicare to all. The terms used to describe these various options are often used interchangeably but they would be structured differently and have different impacts depending on the implementation details. Panelists at this session will discuss the general approaches for expanding access to public plans and their potential implications.

Description: A panel of practicing actuaries and policy analysts will discuss the 'big issues' that could affect the actuarial profession in the future, and suggest ideas on how the actuarial profession could adapt to these challenges. This will be an interactive session where attendees can expect to have an opportunity to weigh in through polling questions and discussion. Topics touched will include: socialized medicine, artificial intelligence, the competition from data scientists, data commoditization, disruption from new entrants into the healthcare insurance space, and more.

Description: Insurance commissioners and/or deputy commissioners will discuss a variety of current topics including health care reform, risks in the major medical markets, voluntary products and other topics. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will be able to identify issues that are on the mind of the regulatory agencies and the different approaches used across the country.