The Risk Sharing Subcommittee submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) on the HHS-Operated Risk Adjustment Technical Paper on Possible Model Changes, exposed for comment on Oct. 26, 2021.
( )The Long-Term Care Valuation Work Group released a major report, the Long-Term Care Insurance Mortality and Lapse Study, as a result of a 2016 request from the NAIC’s Health Actuarial (B) Task Force regarding replacing the mortality and lapse bases for statutory minimum reserves. The study was completed jointly by the Academy and the Society of Actuaries Research Institute.
( )The Climate Change Joint Task Force sent comments to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Insurance Office's (FIO) request for information regarding FIO's future work related to the insurance sector and climate-related financial risks.
( )The HEWG sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s Special (EX) Committee on Race and Insurance – Workstream 5 (Health) on the exposure draft of the Principles for Data Collection document. The revised draft was exposed on October 15, 2021, with comments due November 15.
( )The Medicaid Committee released an issue paper, Considerations for Reflecting the Impact of COVID-19 in Medicaid Managed Care Plan Rate Setting, which explores key components of rate setting during or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, including data, assumptions and adjustments, risk mitigation, and communication.
( )The Health Equity Work Group sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s Special (EX) Committee on Race and Insurance – Workstream 5 (Health) on the exposure draft of the White Paper on Provider Network outline.
( )The American Academy of Actuaries created a Health Equity Work Group (HEWG) with a goal of contributing to efforts to reduce health disparities and improve health equity among racial and ethnic minority populations and underserved or under-resourced communities.
The HEWG is issuing a request for information (RFI) to solicit input to its work assessing whether and how health actuarial practices and methods affect health disparities. Health actuaries often partner with other professionals in many different aspects of the health care and health insurance systems, including those related to administration, financing, and care management. The HEWG has identified four areas in which health actuaries are involved that may affect health disparities, either by contributing to disparities or by mitigating disparities: health insurance benefit design, provider contracting and network development, premium pricing, and managing population risk. The work group is also exploring data collection issues. More information about the HEWG’s work and its publications thus far is available here.
Learn more about the RFI here. Comments should be submitted by Jan. 14, 2022, via email to healthequityRFI@actuary.org. Please include the phrase “HEWG Request for Information” in the subject line and do not password-protect any attachments. Comments may be sent via conventional mail to: Health Equity Work Group, American Academy of Actuaries, 1850 M Street NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036.
( )The Health Equity Work Group (HEWG) released a discussion brief, Health Equity from an Actuarial Perspective: Managing Population Health. This discussion brief is the final in the series developed by the HEWG to provide more context on issues raised in the initial discussion brief, Health Equity from an Actuarial Perspective: Questions to Explore. This series was undertaken by the HEWG to lay the groundwork for their future exploration and research into health disparities.
( )The LTC Reform Subcommittee submitted a comment letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Long-Term Care Insurance (EX) Task Force regarding the exposure drafts of the operational and actuarial sections of the Long-Term Care Insurance Multi-State Rate Review Framework released September 10 and September 15, 2021.
( )The Health Equity Work Group (HEWG) released a discussion brief, Health Equity from an Actuarial Perspective: Provider Contracting and Network Development. This discussion brief is part of a series developed by the HEWG to provide more context on issues raised in the initial discussion brief, Health Equity from an Actuarial Perspective: Questions to Explore.
( )The Health Care Delivery Committee and its Telehealth Work Group submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on CMS’ proposed rule on Medicare, payment policies, and enrollment regulation updates.
( )The Medicare Subcommittee released an issue brief on the financing challenges facing the Medicare program based on the 2021 annual review of the Medicare program’s trustees.
( )The Long-term Care Reform Subcommittee submitted a comment letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Long-Term Care Insurance Reduced Benefit Options (EX) Subgroup regarding the July 22, 2021 exposure draft, Issues Related to LTC Wellness Benefits.
( )The Academy’s Medicare’s Long-Term Sustainability Challenge Essential Elements provides updated figures and information on the financial outlook of Medicare following the release of the 2021 Medicare Trustees report. Essential Elements is a series designed to make actuarial analyses of public policy issues clearer to general audiences. Read the news release.
( )The Individual and Small Group Markets Committee released an issue brief laying out the factors underlying premium rate setting and highlighting the major components driving premium changes in 2022. Read the news release.
( )
