The American Academy of Actuaries (“AAA”) has written a comment letter jointly addressed to the leaders of both Houses of Congress. The purpose of this letter is to provide an actuarial perspective to all the major provisions of both the House and Senate Health Reform bills. A comparison of these provisions is offered as well as a discussion of critical actuarial issues and recommendations for addressing them.

Some of the more critical issues addressed are:

• The need to strengthen the individual mandate
• Allowing a wider variation of premium by age
• Inconsistencies in the grandfathering provisions
• Medical loss ratio considerations
• Clarifications to the definition of Medical Necessity
• Relative benefits of the Senate’s risk-sharing provisions
• Inadequacy of loan provisions for insurance cooperatives
• Need to base excise tax on actuarial value, rather than premiums
• Adverse selection in CLASS provisions

The link for this outstanding letter is:

 http://www.actuary.org/pdf/health/differences_jan10.pdf/

In addition to this, the Society of Actuaries, the American Academy of Actuaries and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries are sponsoring upcoming webcasts on various aspects of Health Care Reform. The first if these is a free webcast on January 25, 2010. Speakers will provide actuaries with an overview of the current status of health care reform, then outline some of the more significant differences between the bills, the challenges those differences will present for the reconciliation process, and which chamber’s approach (if either) would be more viable. For more information, click on the following link:

 http://www.actuary.org/webcasts/health_jan10.asp

This will be followed up with a Health Reform Update webcast on February 9, 2010. Information regarding this event can be found at the following site:

http://www.ccactuaries.org/events/seminars/2010-audiocast-schedule.html#02-10

We strongly recommend these particular learning opportunities for actuaries and non-actuaries alike. Health Reform legislation is going to change the industry in a remarkable way. It behooves all professionals in the health care insurance industry and the employee benefits realm to keep abreast of these developments.