Description: Read the October 2019 issue of Health Watch, published by the Health Section. Practical information for actuaries, articles impact sections, section activities. This is the first digital-only issue of the newsletter.

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: Telehealth benefits, obstacles, and delivery systems

Description: CMS provides a significant and growing amount of information that can be leveraged by actuaries. Between the public use and research files CMS makes publicly available, large amounts of information that can be assimilated to help understand the who, what, when, where and how of Medicare. With the CMS allowance of supplemental benefits to address SDOH, adding SDOH data into your data landscape is critical to better understand your members' cost drivers. The presenters will focus on the depth and breadth of data available, summarize any restrictions on the use of the data, and identify areas where access to the new data can provide more meaningful insights.

Description: Learn about key actuarial and analytic tools and methodologies used by commercial health insurance to identify and quantify drivers of healthcare cost and utilization (including wasteful and low-value ones) and risks. Use case scenarios in which these tools and methodologies apply, such as underwriting, reinsurance, medical management for population health and chronic diseases, managed care contracting, insurance market reform, provider payment reform, etc., will also be covered. Experience from the U.S., China and other parts of the world will be shared.

Description: The COVID-19 pandemic helped accelerate many changes in the Health Care system that were already taking place. The major disruptions to the way providers operated was quite evident with shifting of focus away from elective services to create capacity for treating COVID-19. However, even before the pandemic, providers were adapting to changes in their environments.

Description: Attendees will see how care coordination and navigation may improve outcomes when integrating across acute and long-term care needs within Medicare and Long-Term Care Insurance products.

Description: In this webcast, the presenter will cover mental health in insurance products. Learn about the public’s increased interest in mental health and the ways insurers can meet this demand, how we can embed such offerings in insurance and how to successfully expand mental health coverage to those in need. The second speaker will cover how cancer and the simplified issue insurance market has evolved in Korea. In this session, the speaker will share the ease of selling / onboarding, thus allowing a greater penetration of products.

Description: Hear about the new hope biosimilars bring in helping payers and patients manage the rapidly growing pharmacy spend. The Big Event, encompassing multiple Humira biosimilars, launches in 2023 and could set the tone for how much biosimilars can be expected to contribute to solving our pharmacy spend challenges. What will be the financial impact of the Big Event and this coming wave? What can be done to maximize adoption of biosimilars? What strategies are available to maximize savings for payers and patients?

Description: Anti-obesity medications have been met with reluctance from payers and employee benefits consultants who often lack analogs or empirical data to estimate the cost impact of new therapies coverage. Health plans considering coverage of anti-obesity medications will need to assess and manage the potential costs of covering these new therapies in context of their overall obesity management strategy, including coverage of nutrition counseling, weight management, and bariatric surgery.