Description: Obesity rates in the United States have climbed to historic highs, with nearly 42% of adults now classified as obese—a trend with significant implications for the health care system. Among Medicare-aged individuals, obesity is strongly associated with chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders, all of which increase health care utilization and spending. As costs continue to rise, understanding the financial impact of obesity management is increasingly important for policymakers, payers and providers. This analysis uses detailed traditional Medicare claims and eligibility data to examine how obesity levels relate to health care expenditures and how costs change as members move between different diagnosed obesity categories over time

Description: Adam Barnhart and Stephanie Moench, the co-charis of the new Health Community, announce the official community launch, which merges the former Long-Term Care and Health Section Councils into a single, unified group. The community aims to foster professional development through high-quality education, research, and collaborative networking for actuaries. To ensure a personalized experience within this large organization, members are encouraged to join one of more than 12 specialized subgroups. These groups offer focused discussions and expert insights via regular topic calls and private listservs. Under the new community model, members have flexible opportunities to contribute without needing to hold an elected position. Volunteers are sought for content creation (articles, podcasts, and webcasts), subgroup leadership, and industry research projects. Members can browse available subgroups and volunteer opportunities through the Society of Actuaries (SOA) website. By integrating these legacy sections, the Health Community strives to build a vibrant, innovative future for its members at every career stage.

Description: Heatmaps are an effective tool for visualizing changes in cancer incidences over time in large datasets. They can show the impact of screening measures, particularly when targeting specific age groups, and reveal characteristics of individual cohorts.

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.