Description: An actuarial model that provides financial incentives to providers to offer patients an approach that can reverse chronic disease and reduce health care costs

Description: The article reviews high-deductible health plans and poor reimbursement for mental health providers as being the root of 3 devastating problems facing the US.

Description: Separating incident and prevalent populations is useful, but the use of a cohort to make an RTM adjustment is unwarranted in the population-based pre- versus post-period design. From Financing Chronic Care Monograph, M-HB05-1.

Description: Most health care delivered in the United States is based on the acute care model: it is episodic has a beginning, middle and end usually the patient recovers and interventions are designed to target a specific pathophysiologic abnormality. Chronic disease care, in contrast, often has no clear beginning and no end the focus is on managing over the long term with prevention of progression and complications. Further, many chronic diseases “travel together” comorbidities: for example, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease CAD, heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease and renal dysfunction are often found together.

Description: This paper presents a different approach to measuring Health Expectancy, especially as it relates to the elderly population. This new actuarial approach is described and numerous examples are given.

Description: A health actuary describes her journey as a parent of a child with medical needs, and the complexities associated with navigating the health insurance industry.

Description: Yi-Ling Lin, FSA, MAAA, FCA, started the SOA’s Predictive Analytics Certificate Program to keep pace with the impact big data and predictive modeling is having on the health care industry

Description: This is the abstract to the paper, A Comparative Analysis of Chronic and Non-Chronic Insured Commercial Member Cost Trends.

Description: The coming wave of biosimilars could dramatically affect prescription drug costs and benefit strategies over the next several years. The launch of many Humira biosimilars in 2023 is the Big Event that will largely determine the impact of the biosimilar wave. Payers have many decisions to make about coverage and formulary tiers. What factors will drive payer decision-making?

Description: This article discusses a study of the impact of the drug infliximab on Crohn's disease patients. This study had been approved in response to an SOA request for proposals for research on the health cost and utilization effects of a specific prescription drug.