The Health Practice Council has released an issue brief, ERISA at 50: ERISA and Health Benefits. The issue brief covers the history of ERISA’s application to health benefits, subsequent amendments to the law, ERISA’s facilitation of coverage under employer-sponsored health plans, and its challenges. Released alongside the issue brief is an executive summary of the brief.

The Individual and Small Group Markets Committee released an issue brief, Drivers of 2025 Health Insurance Premium Changes. The brief provides more details on the factors that are likely to drive health insurance premium changes in 2025 for plans operating in the individual and small group markets subject to Affordable Care Act rules.

The Medicare Committee released an issue brief, Medicare’s Financial Condition: Beyond Actuarial Balance, that examines the findings of the 2024 Medicare Trustees Report with respect to program solvency and sustainability.

The Health Equity Committee released an issue brief summarizing its "Health Benefit Design Innovations for Advancing Health Equity: Removing the Barriers to Successful Implementation" series. 

The latest issue brief in its "Health Benefit Design Innovations for Advancing Health Equity: Removing the Barriers to Successful Implementation" series explores how to better understand unmet needs and incorporate input from employees and plan members into the benefit design decision-making process, and Overcoming Constraints to Implementation discusses some of the challenges of implementing equity-enhancing benefit plans—and possible solutions. The lessons learned in discussions that led to this series of four issue briefs was the topic of a special Health Symposium: Health Benefit Design Innovations for Advancing Health Equity on Nov. 15, 2023.

The latest issue brief in its “Health Benefit Design Innovations for Advancing Health Equity: Removing the Barriers to Successful Implementation” series explores how to better understand unmet needs and incorporate input from employees and plan members into the benefit design decision-making process, and Overcoming Constraints to Implementation discusses some of the challenges of implementing equity-enhancing benefit plans—and possible solutions.

A new issue brief released by the Health Equity Committee provides an overview of how potential benefit changes are evaluated and how those evaluations could facilitate the incorporation of equity-enhancing benefit design features. These issues were discussed in the second of a series of workshops with stakeholders and decision-makers focusing on changing cost-sharing features, such as through value-based insurance design (VBID), as well as adding benefits to address health-related social needs.

A new issue brief released by the Health Equity Committee provides an overview of issues related to designing health benefits to improve health equity. These issues were discussed in the first of a series of workshops with stakeholders and decision-makers focusing on changing cost-sharing features, such as through value-based insurance design (VBID), as well as adding benefits to address health-related social needs. In particular, the brief outlines some of the decision-making process with respect to adding benefits and the challenges of incorporating more equity-improving elements into health insurance plan designs.

The Individual and Small Group Markets Committee released its annual issue brief laying out the factors underlying premium rate setting and highlighting the major components driving premium changes in the individual and small group markets for 2024.

The Active Benefits Committee released an issue brief focusing on the role of actuaries in employee benefits for health policy development.