Academy Activities

The Academy’s new lunchtime webinar series—the Academy Capitol Forum—starts on Oct. 16 from noon to 1 p.m. and features Gregory Martin, the deputy director of stakeholder engagement at the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to fund and share research on the effectiveness of health care options, PCORI has begun helping consumers make better-informed decisions on their health care. During the webinar, Martin will discuss PCORI’s mission, the ways in which PCORI conducts research and includes patients and various stakeholders in the process, and opportunities for actuaries to be more involved in this area. The Academy Capitol Forum webinar series is an opportunity for members to learn from the experts about a wide variety of public policy issues. Webinars will feature topics in health care, risk management, financial reporting, pensions and retirement income, property/casualty, and life insurance. This webinar is open to actuaries in every practice area, and the fee is $25. Government regulators are invited free of charge. Contact Kyla Ruiz at ruiz@actuary.org or 202-223-8196 to register. Please indicate if you are a regulator.

The Academy hosted two health-related webinars in September. The first webinar, on Sept. 27, focused on the release of the Large Group Medical Insurance Reserves, Liabilities, and Actuarial Assets practice note. Members of the Health Practice Financial Reporting Committee provided more than 169 attendees an overview of what is new and what has been updated in the practice note, including a discussion of the definition of large group medical business, funding arrangements, pertinent regulatory and legislative issues, and asset adequacy analysis. The exposure draft of the new practice note, Minimum Value and Actuarial Value Determinations Under the Affordable Care Act, was the subject of a Sept. 20 webinar. Members of the MV/AV practice note work group offered the more than 500 attendees an overview of the new provisions related to MV and AV in the ACA and discussed plan designs that are not accommodated by the MV and AV calculators.

On Sept. 23, members of the Academy’s Health Care Receivables Factors Work Group made a presentation at the Valuation Actuary Symposium in Indianapolis on the NAIC Health Annual Statement’s new Exhibit 3A, which provides guidelines for health care receivables. On Oct. 18, members of the work group will be hosting a webinar for Academy members on the purpose of the new exhibit and sharing examples with cross references to Exhibit 3 and the Underwriting and Investment Exhibit (Part 2B).To register for that webinar, click here.

The North American Actuarial Council's (NAAC) Collaborative Research Group, of which the Academy is a member, has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) relating to the effect of changing health expectancy on insurance organizations and governmental programs in North America in terms of products, risks, and stakeholders.  Proposals must be received by Nov. 15.  For more information, please see the RFP.

Legislative and Regulatory Updates

As the federal government shut down on Oct. 2, the ACA health insurance exchanges opened, at both the federal and state levels. Two weeks before the exchanges opened, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report summarizing the health plan choices and premiums available in the health insurance exchanges. The report contains new information on qualified health plans in the 36 states in which the HHS will support or fully run the exchange in 2014. The report focuses on the plans with the lowest premiums in each state, because consumers are expected to shop for low-cost plans.

On Sept. 25, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a proposed rule establishing the Basic Health Program, which gives states the flexibility to establish a health benefits coverage program for low-income individuals who would otherwise be eligible to purchase coverage through the state’s exchange. The proposed rule sets forth a framework for Basic Health Program eligibility and enrollment, benefits, delivery of health care services, transfer of funds to participating states, and federal oversight. Comments on the proposed rule are due by Nov. 25.

On Sept. 17, the Census Bureau released the report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012, which details findings on the number of Americans with and without health insurance coverage and other data related to health insurance coverage, income levels, and poverty rates. The report indicates that the percentage of Americans without coverage decreased from 15.7 percent in 2011 to 15.4 percent in 2012. Although the actual number of uninsured also decreased—from 48.6 million in 2011 to 48 million in 2012—the decline was not statistically significant. The Academy released an alert on Sept. 18 that discussed highlights from the report.

The Department of the Treasury released two proposed rules on Sept. 9 addressing information reporting under the ACA. The first rule requires providers of minimum essential coverage to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information about the type and period of coverage they are providing, and furnish related statements to covered individuals. The other proposed rule provides guidance to large employers on information that must be shared with employees and the IRS to comply with the employer shared responsibility requirement and eligibility for premium tax subsidies. Comments on the two proposed rules must be received by Nov. 8.

In the News

The Yahoo! Finance Canada article, “A Day in the Life of an Actuary,” profiled Academy member Alex Tava, managing actuary for Cirdan Health Systems and Consulting in St. Paul, Minn.

A Contingencies story about the implications of the Affordable Care Act on young adults was cited in The Oklahoman article, “Obamacare’s Impact on Rates May Undermine Rationale for Its Existence,” The Weekly Standard article, “Never Surrender,” and a column in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Academy Senior Health Fellow, Cori Uccello, was quoted in a Reuter’s story, “In Obamacare Rate Debate Price Gets Political,” that was featured on Lifescript.com.

An article in Slate links to the Academy press release on the decision brief Implications of Medicaid Expansion Decisions on Private Coverage.

A Yahoo! Finance article on healthcare costs mentioned the Academy.

The Rockland County Times published “A ‘Direct’ Way to Lower Health Care Costs,” which mentions Academy analysis of health costs.

An Op-Ed in Forbes links to the Academy issue brief, How Will Premiums Change Under the ACA?

Upcoming Events

2013 State Issues Conference
Conference: Oct. 17–18, Arlington, Va.
Sponsor: America's Health Insurance Plans (fee charged)

The Importance of Big Data to the L&H Insurance Industry—Improving Our Use of Structured and Unstructured Data Sources
Webinar: Nov. 15
Sponsor: International Actuarial Association Health Section (fee charged)

Exchanges Conference
Conference: Dec. 12, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington
Sponsor: America's Health Insurance Plans (fee charged)

For a complete listing of upcoming and recent health care reform events click here.