Description: The evolving specialty pharmacy environment has created difficulties for actuaries pricing and forecasting pharmacy coverage. Unpredictable specialty pharmacy trends have increased insurers' earnings volatility and affected members' health care affordability. The presenters will highlight the current specialty drug development pipeline and explore specialty pharmacy drug trend management strategies. They will also provide concepts to help manage the coming wave of gene and cell therapies.

Description: Realizing the impact of medical errors on the U.S. health care system, the Health Section commissioned a research project to measure the annual frequency of medical errors and their total measurable direct and indirect cost to the economy.

Description: This paper focuses on the situation of women at high ages and the implications of longer life for women. This paper draws on and brings together work done by the Society of Actuaries in connection with the 2005 post-retirement risk survey, work from Social Security administration studies, U.S. government census data, WISER, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and papers funded by the Social Security research center.

Description: This dissertation by Tia Sawhney will help you understand this issue and start measuring it, or start promoting equitable public policy.

Description: This paper focuses on the situation of women at high ages and the implications of longer life for women. This paper draws on and brings together work done by the Society of Actuaries in connection with the 2005 post-retirement risk survey, work from Social Security administration studies, U.S. government census data, WISER, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and papers funded by the Social Security research center.

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: Transcript of the Q&A period from session 3B. Session focused on Women's longevity issues and Chronic Disability Measurement and cost.

Description: This article provides an introduction to MEPS and where to find data files. From Health Watch, September 2006, Issue No. 53.

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.