Milliman insight from around the world

01 July 2020 - By Casey B. Baldwin, John Rowland

This article provides an overview of the benefit suspension process, identifies considerations for trustees and plan professionals, and shares the lessons learned from previous applications.

01 July 2020

How can I have a plan that provides a sustainable level of benefits?

01 July 2020 - By Kendall Carolissen, Judith Houtepen

This article describes the application of two methods for the detection of potential fraudulent claims in healthcare provider invoices.

01 July 2020 - By Andrew B. Groth

Widespread implementation of autonomous vehicles could be realized within the next decade, and even though there will be fewer driver-induced accidents and truck driver fatalities, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a need for auto liability insurance.

29 June 2020 - By Eamonn Phelan, Joseph Sloan

Milliman consultants discuss recovery and planning for insurers and actuarial models.

29 June 2020 - By Dane Hansen, Andrew Bochner, Emily DeAngelis

This paper examines the reported impact of COVID-19 on preliminary rate filings among six states and D.C. that have been publicly released as of June 15, 2020.

26 June 2020 - By Stacy Koron

Because insurance regulation moves slowly and innovation moves fast, a more flexible framework is needed for insurers to rapidly bring innovative products and services to market.

26 June 2020 - By Emma Hutchinson, Fred Vosvenieks, Paul Fulcher

Solvency II matching is no longer just a theoretical concept but rather a common strategy used by UK insurers with material blocks of unit-linked business to help improve liquidity and balance sheet stability, and better manage market risks.

26 June 2020 - By Jennifer Bolton

For the first time in two decades, Milliman planned to transition to new benefit carriers, including a new medical plan administrator and prescription drug provider.

25 June 2020 - By Manikant Prasad

This paper tries to solve the problem where a system or application, built over R, can communicate to a database with massive data volume, residing on a remote system, to retrieve only the chunks of data needed for current analysis to gain scalability and speed by leveraging the data management and querying speed of the databases.

23 June 2020 - By Mary Leong, Ryan Cook

During May 2020, average accounting discount rates decreased by 27 bps, while annuity purchase rates decreased by 10 bps.

22 June 2020 - By Floriane Moy

In a rapidly changing work environment, this article provides an overview of the analytics challenges in the insurance industry.

22 June 2020 - By Susan J. Forray, Chad C. Karls, Joe Mawhinney

Prior to March 15, defense attorneys attended about 47 depositions weekly for every 1000 open claims, but in the second half of March, this decreased to about nine per week.

18 June 2020 - By David Evans

Despite the uncertainty of the moment, the observations from the 2020 Northwest Benefits Survey help clarify some trends that will likely have relevance in the future.

15 June 2020 - By Susan J. Forray, Eric P. Krafcheck, Richard F. Riley, Jr.

Beginning in late March, shortly after stay-at-home orders were widely imposed nationwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many insurers began voluntarily paying partial premium refunds to personal auto policyholders.

15 June 2020 - By Susan J. Forray, Chad C. Karls

The year 2019 marked a turning point for the medical professional liability industry.

12 June 2020 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

Equity markets continued their positive run in May as they made gains for the second month in a row.

11 June 2020 - By Esther Peterson

This article summarizes the components that feed into IRS minimum required contributions and addresses some questions that employers may have.

11 June 2020 - By Stephen R. DiCenso

Even before the coronavirus, obstacles existed that slowed the uptake of insurtech solutions that targeted the reduction of customers’ losses.

11 June 2020 - By Rebecca A. Sielman

The estimated funding status of the 100 largest U.S. public pensions as measured by the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index improved to 71.3%, up from 69.8% at the end of April 2020, and a significant recovery from 66.0% at the end of March 2020.

10 June 2020 - By Pamela M. Pelizzari, Stoddard Davenport, Carol Bazell

What are the challenges of interpreting data, reports, and media coverage surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic?

10 June 2020 - By Zorast Wadia

The COVID-19 pandemic has created economic uncertainty, and this article offers helpful guidelines for corporate pension plan sponsors based on past experience and the market data already in the books through the first quarter of 2020.

09 June 2020 - By Sean Silva, Eric Walters

On April 28, 2020, the Departments of Labor and Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service jointly issued guidance extending certain deadlines related to COBRA continuation coverage.

08 June 2020 - By Paul Fulcher, Sihong Zhu

The Solvency II Prudent Person Principle, Article 132 of the Directive, sets out rules and principles to be followed by (re-)insurers when carrying out asset investment activities.

08 June 2020 - By Stephen George, Joel Brill

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper examines why, when, and how vaccines are used; highlights the vaccine development pathway; reviews previous experience with viral pandemics; and assesses ways payers can address COVID-19.

08 June 2020 - By Zorast Wadia, Charles J. Clark

In May, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans worsened by $17 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

05 June 2020 - By Stacy Koron, Taylor McKinnon, Stephen Tabachnick

State Departments of Insurance have issued special rules, regulations, and guidance for insurers related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scope of this report is limited to such information applicable to accident and health insurance only and focuses the impact that COVID-19 regulatory actions have on product administration.

05 June 2020 - By Bruce S. Pyenson, Jim Mulshine

Artificial intelligence along with low-dose CT scans hold promise for the early detection of lung cancer, but there are challenges that come with scaling up this new technology.

04 June 2020 - By Donal McGinley, Bridget MacDonnell, Eamon Comerford

This briefing note gives a high-level overview of how insurers can make better use of internal data to gain insight and drive competitive advantage.

03 June 2020 - By William Wade

What are the potential penalties if a multiemployer pension plan reaches the end of its funding improvement plan or rehabilitation plan period and falls short of the goals?

03 June 2020 - By Joy A. Schwartzman

COVID-19-related costs as a percentage of surplus by company will cover a broad range, depending on the business written, policy terms, reinsurance in place, and leverage of premium to surplus, among other factors.

02 June 2020 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block (see Index Methodology) is estimated to be 259 bps as of the end of May 2020, down 12 basis points from the previous month, driven by an increase in long-term interest rates.

02 June 2020 - By Robert L. Schmidt, Eric Walters

Each year, Milliman produces estimates of retiree health costs that are updated each year.

02 June 2020 - By Dominick Pizzano, Henrik Patel, Kenneth Barr

This article examines how nonqualified deferred compensation plan (NDCP) sponsors can navigate the rules to ensure their NDCP comply with Code Section 409A with respect to changes in the form of payment elections.

01 June 2020 - By Robert Eaton

In order to provide insureds with more options than a full lapse after being informed of premium increases (i.e., dropping coverage because it is unaffordable), long-term care insurance companies often present reduced benefit options within policyholder notice letters.

01 June 2020 - By Lukas Snyder, David Mike, Luke Metz, Matthew Hayes, Derek Cole

This paper explores the impact of the Part D Senior Savings Model on patient out-of-pocket costs.

01 June 2020 - By Abhishek Agrawal, Rachin Aggarwal, Jorge Torres, Bridget MacDonnell

What are some innovative healthcare technologies that can be harnessed directly by health insurers in different parts of the world?

29 May 2020 - By Dominik Sznajder, Matthew McIlvanna, Freek Zandbergen

This briefing note summarises the new design of the Volatility Adjustment (VA) and presents an impact analysis on the effectiveness of the VA under this approach.

28 May 2020 - By Brian Colgan, David Kong, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway

Developments in the Indonesian life insurance industry for the period 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020

26 May 2020 - By David Bahlinger

Research into the behavioral economics, marketing, and psychology of insurance products is business-critical for insurers.

26 May 2020 - By Claire Booth, Neil Cantle, Dana-Marie Dick, Ian Penfold, Natasha Singhal, Vidyut Vardhan

What metrics are most useful to insurance companies when considering the risks and impacts of climate change?

26 May 2020 - By Susan J. Saip, Carl A. Friedrich

In 2019, Milliman conducted its 13th annual comprehensive survey aimed at addressing universal life and indexed universal life issues to provide carriers with competitive benchmarking to evaluate where they stand relative to their peers.

22 May 2020 - By Grant Camp, Aaron Shapiro

This alert focuses on the multiemployer provisions in Division D of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act.

21 May 2020 - By Deana Bell, Karen Nixon

How could prescription drug rebates at the Point of Sale affect the customer?

21 May 2020 - By Christopher S. Girod, Paul R. Houchens, David M. Liner, Andrew L. Naugle, Doug Norris, Scott A. Weltz

In 2020, the cost of healthcare for a hypothetical American family of four covered by an average employer-sponsored preferred provider organization plan is $28,653, according to the Milliman Medical Index.

19 May 2020 - By Sheila Jelinek, Suzanne Norman, Michelle Richter

By increasing the number of female advisors, a greater number of clients can benefit from the unique perspectives and life experiences women bring to help people navigate critical financial decisions.

19 May 2020 - By Cory Gusland, Anders Larson, Brian A. Sweatman

For any given provider organization, the impact of COVID-19 on its value-based contracts will depend largely on certain actuarial, legal, and strategic aspects of each agreement.

18 May 2020 - By Stephen R. DiCenso

The P&C insurance industry would benefit from more direct collaboration and communication with its customers.

18 May 2020 - By Thomas Peplow

This article offers a software engineer’s perspective on keeping pace with both the actuarial and software industries.

18 May 2020 - By Mary Leong, Ryan Cook

During April 2020, average accounting discount rates decreased by 56 bps, while annuity purchase rates decreased by 51 bps.

18 May 2020 - By Claire Booth, Neil Christy, Emma Hutchinson

The year 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 have seen a range of new issues and trends across the unit-linked market.

15 May 2020 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

After a turbulent March, equity markets had a strong performance in April.

15 May 2020 - By Ryan Rowland

This brief outlines several ideas for employers to consider in connection with their defined benefit pension plans as well as caveats to be aware of as you evaluate your organization’s staffing needs during the COVID-19 crisis.

15 May 2020 - By Jennifer Bolton, Julie Bentz

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, there are even more challenges to communicating about benefits.

15 May 2020 - By Patricia L. Renzi

Pat Renzi discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the life insurance industry and its digital transformation.

15 May 2020 - By Eoin O'Baoighill, Mike Claffey

Based on our analysis of road traffic data, there has been a 70% drop in vehicle volumes since this time last year.

15 May 2020 - By Michael C. Schmitz, Jonathan B. Glowacki, Andrew Netter

This paper discusses COVID-19’s impact on the credit risk transfer market and reflects on the use of capital markets executions and reinsurance executions to meet government-sponsored enterprises’ goals.

15 May 2020 - By Zorast Wadia, Charles J. Clark

In April, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans worsened by $58 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

14 May 2020 - By Greg Callahan, Janus Desquitado

Auditing the administration of the pharmaceutical manufacturer rebate program, including dollars paid, is a proven strategy for improving plan sponsor profitability, prescription drug affordability, and the management of pharmacy benefit manager contracts.

14 May 2020 - By Rémi Bellina, Cedric Mea, Floriane Moy, Alexandre Boumezoued, Amal Elfassihi, Eve Titon

This paper explores the potential and the challenge of using BERT, a Natural Language Processing framework, to automate the task of gathering input information and assisting experts for COVID-19 studies.

14 May 2020 - By Dominic Clark, Jeremy Kent, Ed Morgan

This white paper considers the potential impact of International Financial Reporting Standard 17 on insurance product design and pricing in the European markets and contrasts the expected impact on a range of life insurance products.

13 May 2020 - By John Donohue, Thomas M Carrabine

This article provides an overview of the distribution process and why now may be a good time for trustees to consider moving the defined contribution plans to a daily valued environment.

13 May 2020 - By Radhika Philip, Danny L. Quant

This article focuses on three critical key talent topics in due diligence: assessing contractual obligations, identifying key high-performing talent, and designing retention and termination packages.

13 May 2020 - By Alexandre Boumezoued

The analysis of cohort effects has long fascinated the actuarial community.

13 May 2020 - By Rebecca A. Sielman

The estimated funded status of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans as measured by the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index now stands at 69.8%, a far cry from the heady 74.9% at the end of December 2019, but a significant improvement from 66.0% at the end of March.

12 May 2020 - By Kristina Moorhead, Jill S. Herbold, Ben Mori, Mary Pat Stemnock, Katherine Wentworth

The COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services program participants.

12 May 2020 - By Lauren Busey

COVID-19 poses challenges for healthcare providers who are managing complex issues around benefits and compensation policies to best support their employees during these hazardous times.

11 May 2020 - By Sinéad Clarke, Eóin Stack

This briefing note explores the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ireland’s insurance industry and how regulatory authorities have responded.

11 May 2020 - By Joanne E. Fontana, Annie Hallum, Catherine E Lewis

This paper outlines the options for Medicaid dental delivery systems, their current usage, and considerations for each option.

11 May 2020 - By Susan J. Forray, Chad C. Karls, Joe Mawhinney

The liability insurance industry experienced a widespread delay in litigation stemming from court closures as stay-at-home orders were implemented in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

11 May 2020 - By Joel E. Stewart, Yutaro Seki

This Multiemployer Alert provides a summary of past multiemployer pension funding relief and recent proposals.

11 May 2020 - By Charles J. Clark, Ginny Boggs

The CARES Act has sweeping implications for both defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans in the U.S., as Milliman’s Charles Clark and Ginny Boggs discuss on this episode of Critical Point.

08 May 2020 - By Brian A. Sweatman, Shyam Kolli

This paper summarizes a few direct contracting strategies observed in the marketplace and identifies key areas for considerations as employers evaluate these options.

07 May 2020 - By Michael C. Meehan

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced risk managers to throw their plans out the window and rethink how to manage their exposures.

07 May 2020 - By Alexandre Boumezoued

This white paper proposes two alternative and complementary views to the EIOPA’s final technical set of advice on the mortality and longevity shock calibration: a prospective approach in the spirit of one-year calculations and a retrospective analysis based on historical data from corrected mortality tables.

07 May 2020

What else can I do to minimize the impact of the market downturn on my contributions?

07 May 2020 - By Daniel J. Perlman

The Transparency in Coverage proposed rule is a reaction to the current opacity of healthcare pricing to most people.

06 May 2020 - By Tony F. Bloemer, Timothy C. Vosicky, Matthew Murray

This white paper is a compilation of key findings from Milliman’s workers’ compensation database.

06 May 2020 - By Christine M. Fleming, Travis J. Grulkowski

Black lung disease presents a significant, long-term liability exposure for coal companies, risk pools, and governments, as Milliman consultants Christine Fleming and Travis Grulkowski discuss in this episode of Critical Point.

05 May 2020 - By Robert Eaton

The 2019 Long-Term Care (LTC) Medical Symposium was a one-day conference that extracted the thinking of leading experts on historical and future trends that will influence LTC insurance claims expectations.

05 May 2020 - By Jeffrey G. Milton-Hall, Thomas D. Murawski, Doug Norris

As knowledge around COVID-19 continues to evolve, much of the industry focus has been on this year’s costs, but this volatile and uncertain environment also presents an extraordinary challenge for health plans developing rates for 2021 commercial coverage.

05 May 2020 - By Carl X. Ashenbrenner, Darren L. Sveom

What is the potential impact that COVID-19 may have on medical professional liability and workers’ compensation claims within long-term care providers?

05 May 2020 - By Matthew D. Timm, Michelle Klein

One innovation that is driving enrollment growth for some Medicare Advantage organizations is the $0 member premium PPO.

04 May 2020 - By Job Prince, Freek Zandbergen

This briefing note summarizes the alternative method to extrapolate long-term interest rates and presents the impact on hedging strategies and an analysis of the main dynamics in comparison to the use of the Smith-Wilson methods and an approach without an Ultimate Forward Rate.

04 May 2020 - By Mohamed Benkhalfa

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, trade credit insurance is being affected adversely on both premiums and claims.

04 May 2020 - By Les Kartchner, Troy J. Pritchett

In a system that ties healthcare coverage so tightly to employment, the implications of so many people losing their healthcare coverage are deadly serious in a pandemic.

01 May 2020 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block (see Index Methodology1) is estimated to be 271 bps as of the end of April 2020, up 3 basis points from the previous month, driven by a decrease in long-term interest rates.

01 May 2020 - By Judith-Anne Brelih, Jonathan B. Glowacki

Quarterly publication will evaluate default risk of U.S. mortgages delivered to Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Ginnie Mae.

30 April 2020 - By Stephanie Peterson, Robert L. Schmidt, Ryan Hart

Health and group benefits news and developments in the United States.

30 April 2020 - By David Bahlinger, Paul M. Fedchak, Ian Laverty, William G. Mehilos

This survey examines how life insurance carriers are currently reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic.

30 April 2020 - By Ladd E. Preppernau

Retirement planning is a long-term undertaking, and the consequences of rules and actions may not be known until years, or even decades, after they are implemented.

30 April 2020 - By Ladd E. Preppernau, Grant Camp

A strong understanding of the historical regulatory perspective can serve to inform the discussion on future regulatory changes designed to improve the long-term health of multiemployer pension plans.

30 April 2020 - By Luke B.G. Roth , Ben Mori, James Pettersson, Joseph Whitley, Carol H. Steckel

While large for-profit healthcare provider entities with existing capital reserves or greater access to capital markets may be able to weather the financial strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, other small, rural, or safety net provider entities may require additional support to keep their doors open.

29 April 2020 - By Bret Linton, Vicki Mazzie, Vanessa M. Vaag

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act permits a “qualified individual” to certify to the employer that they qualify to elect a coronavirus-related distribution.

29 April 2020 - By Les Kartchner, Sam Bertoch

Contributions charged to employees and retirees are an important aspect of an employer’s health and welfare benefit strategy.

29 April 2020 - By Ken Qian, Ben Johnson, Jenny Jin

This report discusses findings from Milliman’s research on predicting lapse and mortality rates for 10-year and 15-year premium term insurance products from the Milliman Industry Study and Analysis data set.

29 April 2020 - By Tony Dardis, Chloe Lau, Ariel Weis

At the heart of effective risk management is the ability to manage the tail events, and the COVID-19 pandemic is raising some quite profound questions for risk practitioners in the life insurance industry, as Milliman consultants discuss for this episode of Critical Point.

28 April 2020 - By Zorast Wadia, Alan H. Perry, Charles J. Clark

Despite a drop of 94 basis points in discount rates, the private single-employer defined benefit plans of the Milliman 100 companies continued to make funding progress in 2019 due to their stellar investment returns of 17.3%.

27 April 2020 - By Annie Man, Barbara Dewey

What are the health insurance options available to the newly unemployed and how may this affect the size of the Affordable Care Act market?

27 April 2020 - By Brian Colgan, David Kong, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway

Developments in the Indonesian life insurance industry for the period 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2019

27 April 2020 - By David Byron, Noah Champagne, Blaine Miller, Charlie Mills, Sam Shellabarger

Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations are especially concerned about the potential for 2020 results to deteriorate due to COVID-19.

27 April 2020 - By Stephen J. Koca, Anne C. Kallfisch, Patricia Kinghorn

The personal auto insurance market has taken a unique response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has chosen to reflect the impact of the short-term change in driver behavior.

23 April 2020 - By Hayley M. Rogers, Charlie Mills, Matthew J. Kramer

The deferral and elimination of care during the COVID-19 pandemic could mean a net reduction in medical costs for healthcare payers by at least $75 billion and as much as $575 billion if the deferral and elimination of care continues through the end of 2020.

22 April 2020 - By Josh Dobiac, Bill Matczak, Jeff Greco

This white paper examines the process of constructing discount curves in accordance with Long Duration Targeted Improvements, including the criteria that should be used, and assesses the quality of the different algorithms used to build out a complete curve (including interpolation, extrapolation, and smoothing).

22 April 2020 - By Susan J. Forray, Stephen J. Koca

Modeling medical professional liability costs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbated by tort law changes, variation in effect among specialties, and an apparent reduction in current claims that may prove to be only a delay contributing to an increase in future reported claim frequency.

21 April 2020 - By Melody Craff, Dale N. Skinner, David P. Mirkin, Francesca Hammerstrom, William J. Fox

What is the impact of COVID-19 on patterns of healthcare utilization, healthcare costs, and population health?

21 April 2020

How is the market downturn going to affect my pension contributions?

21 April 2020 - By Mary Leong, Ryan Cook

During March 2020, average accounting discount rates increased by 80 bps, while annuity purchase rates increased by 71 bps.

17 April 2020 - By Paul Anderson, Andrew B. Groth

With the COVID-19 pandemic, commercial trucking regulations have been eased while other drivers have been mandated to stay off the road.

17 April 2020 - By Joanne Buckle

The effects of COVID-19 for specific insurers are dependent on benefit packages and policy terms and conditions, as well as government responses and macro-economic factors.

16 April 2020 - By Rebecca A. Sielman

First quarter investment losses have lowered the estimated funding status of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans as measured by the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index from 74.9% at the end of December 2019 to 66.0% at the end of March 2020.

15 April 2020 - By Jamie Shooks

COVID-19 stands to have an impact on the pet insurance industry, but at this point, it is unclear whether that impact is going to be positive or negative.

15 April 2020 - By Farzana Ismail, Natasha Su Sivarajah, Queenie Chow

This is Milliman’s first Microinsurance Supply-side Study of Asia, gathering the perspectives of the insurance industry regarding the importance of microinsurance, current practices and the enabling environment.

15 April 2020 - By Thomas Bulpitt, Paul Fulcher, Russell Ward

The economy after COVID-19 may look very different from before the crisis and may involve the use of hitherto unfamiliar fiscal and monetary tools.

15 April 2020 - By Neil Rees, Thomas Peplow

Milliman is donating idle compute time to Folding@home, a computing project that simulates protein dynamics, including the process of protein folding associated with a variety of diseases.

15 April 2020 - By Ashlee Mouton Borcan, Jennifer O’Brien Howard, Darrell D. Spell

This report presents the findings of an analysis focused on isolating and estimating the potential financial impact of COVID-19 on hospital indemnity plans in the United States.

15 April 2020 - By Penny Edlund, Maureen Tressel Lewis

Where can a health plan’s medical management team contribute to the COVID-19 response?

15 April 2020 - By Peter Thies

How does a complex pension plan not only pass nondiscrimination testing but also pass this testing in the future?

14 April 2020 - By Jiang Guanjun, Qiuwen Peng

Local strategies differ when it comes to fighting COVID-19, and it’s too early to know which strategy- contain or delay- works better.

14 April 2020

Equity markets and high yield fixed income securities were down significantly for the quarter as investors reacted to the sudden onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic consequences.

13 April 2020 - By David M. Lang

COVID-19 mandates will require companies with self-insured or high-deductible programs to take a new look at their operations, which may vastly reshape their risk profiles at least for the time being.

13 April 2020 - By Anne C. Kallfisch, Adam Blais

Due to the ongoing economic challenges that businesses are facing due to COVID-19, staffing needs and levels have changed, at least for the short term, and modifications might be needed for the tracking of workers' compensation exposure depending on the level and type of furlough.

13 April 2020 - By Stoddard Davenport, Matthew J. Kramer, Doug Norris, Pamela M. Pelizzari

The COVID-19 pandemic will have far-reaching implications for both short- and long-term healthcare costs in the U.S., as Milliman consultants Pamela Pelizzari, Stoddard Davenport, Doug Norris, and Matt Kramer discuss on this episode of Critical Point.

12 April 2020 - By Kelly S. Coffing, Timothy L. Connor, Nina M. Lantz

COVID-19’s impact goes beyond the market decline. Many industries are being hit hard by a sudden drop-off in industry activity, with concern that the recovery of normal operation could take several years, reducing the contributions coming into multiemployer pension plans.

10 April 2020 - By John H. Rogers, Annie Man, Kyle Hutmaker

While no one knows what will happen with COVID-19 in 2021, in the absence of a vaccine or other curative treatment, Medicare Advantage plans may be advised to consider possible impacts of the disease well into the future.

10 April 2020 - By Mark Goldburd

While many in the insurance industry have concluded that standard policy language does not provide coverage for coronavirus-related business income losses, insurers should brace for court battles ahead.

10 April 2020 - By Andrew H. Dalton, Jeremy Hamilton, Allen J. Schmitz, Juliet M. Spector

This article examines COVID-19 implications on current long-term care (LTC) populations, short-term (2020) and long-term (beyond 2020) projection assumptions, and the effects on the LTC industry as a whole.

10 April 2020 - By Joanne E. Fontana, Alexandra Dowe

Using publicly available data for the 2020 plan year, this article highlights the landscape of dental coverage availablity in the 38 states with the Federally Facilitated Marketplace.

09 April 2020 - By Adam Blais, Christine M. Fleming

The COVID-19 pandemic is raising many questions regarding what is a compensable workers’ compensation claim.

09 April 2020 - By Noah Champagne, Jonah Broulette, Ted Gary

The Direct Contracting model includes a unique feature allowing accountable care organizations the ability to contract with providers.

09 April 2020 - By Joanne E. Fontana, Thomas D. Murawski

This article explores the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dental industry, considering changes in utilization of dental services that could result from the pandemic and its containment efforts as well as the economic ramifications that are already starting to occur and may last for some time.

09 April 2020 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

Financial markets had a very turbulent month in March as more countries around the globe went into lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

08 April 2020 - By Katherine Wentworth, Carol H. Steckel, Jeremy Hoffman, Michael C. Cook, Greg J. Herrle

The COVID-19 pandemic is placing historic pressures on our healthcare system and coverage programs alike, and Medicaid programs are a key mechanism states are using to address these challenges.

08 April 2020 - By Jeff Anderson, Mike A. Bergerson

This paper examines COVID-19 implications on current long-term care (LTC) insured populations, short-term (2020) and long-term (beyond 2020) projection assumptions, and the effects on the LTC industry as a whole.

07 April 2020 - By Eric P. Krafcheck, Paul Anderson

After many failed attempts, Michigan legislators finally passed a historic piece of legislation in 2019, Senate Bill No. 1, which will bring sweeping changes to auto insurance in the state starting July 1, 2020.

07 April 2020 - By Sihong Zhu, Paul Fulcher

This briefing paper summarises key amendments made to the updated Supervisory Statement 3/17, and provides our view on how an internal credit assessment framework used by an insurer for examining illiquid and unrated assets, such as equity release mortgages or private debts, can be improved to better align with the regulator's expectations for the Matching Adjustment calculation.

07 April 2020 - By Heerak Basu, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar, Richard W. Holloway

The onset of COVID-19 and the impact on capital markets pose several challenges for Indian life insurers.

07 April 2020 - By Isabel Stansfield, David Burston, Emma Hutchinson, Stuart Reynolds

This paper summarises the three main delays that EIOPA recommends regulators offer to provide operational relief to undertakings if so needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

07 April 2020 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

In March, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans rose by $93 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

07 April 2020 - By Robert Eaton

How should actuaries think and spend their time in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic?

07 April 2020 - By Luis O. Maldonado Irizarry, Sylvia Hagin, Brian Regan

Newly available product design options will require actuaries to develop new tools and processes in order to assist Medicare Advantage organizations in bid development.

07 April 2020 - By Ge Bai, Bruce S. Pyenson, Gillian Woollett

Fast, convenient, cheap, accurate, and widely-used COVID-19 tests can help identify both infected individuals who should self-isolate and those who have recovered, pose low contagion risks, and can help others fight the virus.

07 April 2020 - By Delbert Zamora

This article focuses on the CARES Act provision allowing deferment to January 1, 2021, of required defined benefit contributions due in the 2020 calendar year.

07 April 2020 - By Allen M. Klein

This article examines early mortality experience related to COVID-19 and includes a discussion about the difficulties in using this data.

06 April 2020 - By Sean Silva, Reza Vahid

This alert describes Title III (Supporting America’s Health Care System in the Fight Against the Coronavirus), Part II (Access to Healthcare for COVID-19 Patients), Subpart A (Coverage of Testing and Preventive Services), of the CARES Act, which expands upon Division F, Health Provisions, of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

06 April 2020 - By Michael Leitschkis, Russell Ward

This paper provides a brief introduction to proxy modelling and contributes to the current debate around validation via a discussion of a number of the tests that might be contemplated and an illustration of a potential “validation dashboard.”

06 April 2020 - By Andrew Jackson, Brian N. Anderson, Marc Guieb

Pharmacy benefit managers have moved quickly to develop new policies that provide guidance and assurance to their plan sponsor clients and members amid the coronavirus outbreak.

03 April 2020 - By Rachel Soich

With the addition of the global COVID-19 pandemic, an already tumultuous D&O insurance environment has the potential to get much worse.

03 April 2020 - By David Bahlinger, Darrell D. Spell, Michael E. Weilant

In 2019, Milliman conducted a variety of research projects to provide insight into the state of the U.S. supplemental insurance market.

03 April 2020 - By Courtney R. White

Providers are uniquely situated to both direct and/or provide care for those in the healthcare delivery system through establishing their own health plans or contracting with existing payers.

02 April 2020 - By Stoddard Davenport

Although it is too early to analyze actual healthcare cost data for those who have been treated for COVID-19 in the United States, historical data from patients who have sought medical attention for influenza or pneumonia may be informative for understanding patient out-of-pocket costs due to treatment for COVID-19.

02 April 2020 - By Scott D. Preppernau

The turmoil the COVID-19 pandemic has caused in financial markets raises profound and potentially long-lasting concerns for pension plan sponsors.

02 April 2020 - By Matthew J. Kramer, Pamela M. Pelizzari, Doug Norris

What are some of the cost drivers that healthcare payers may expect to encounter both now and down the road after we get through the initial surge of the COVID-19 pandemic?

01 April 2020 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block is estimated to be 268 bps as of the end of March 2020, up 44 basis points from the previous month, driven by a decrease in long-term interest rates and an increase in volatility.

01 April 2020 - By Lori E. Julga, Anne C. Kallfisch, Adam Blais

COVID-19 is changing our work environment, and the impacts not only affect our working environment on the job, but also the normal course of existing workers’ compensation claims.

31 March 2020 - By Robert Eaton, Tim F. Kempen, Stephanie Moench, Amy Pahl, Allen J. Schmitz

This report explores key risks and considerations for product innovation using the long-term care insurance industry as a case study.

31 March 2020 - By Susan Philip, Jeremy Cunningham, Mary Pat Stemnock, Ryan Reichel

This brief scopes out the issue of homelessness and housing security and Medicaid’s role in addressing the issue.

31 March 2020 - By William Strange

These FAQs help you thoughtfully consider the potential effects that market volatility resulting from COVID-19 can have on your plan.

30 March 2020 - By Mary Leong, Ryan Cook

During February 2020, average accounting discount rates decreased by 19 bps, while annuity purchase rates decreased by 25 bps.

30 March 2020 - By Barbara Culley, Maureen Tressel Lewis, Andrew L. Naugle

This brief identifies five key payer functions likely to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and actions payers can take to ensure business continuity while enhancing their contributions to the value chain.

30 March 2020 - By Jeff Baker

As employers are facing the harsh reality of implementing layoffs to maintain economic viability, there may be unintended consequences to various retirement programs, especially pension, post-retirement benefit, and other plans.

30 March 2020 - By Alexandre Boumezoued, Eve Titon

This paper discusses actuarial perspectives for the calculation of the capital requirement related to catastrophic pandemic mortality as required by the Solvency II regulation.

30 March 2020 - By Tony Dardis, Chloe Lau, Ariel Weis

The COVID-19 pandemic is raising some profound questions for risk practitioners.

30 March 2020 - By Vicki Mazzie

While many non-essential businesses are closing temporarily due to government requirements, even leading to staff layoffs in some cases, essential employers in some regions are experiencing the need to increase staffing levels or putting plans in place to do so in the coming weeks or months.

30 March 2020 - By Chris Harner, David Kirk

Managing cyber risk in emerging markets such as South Africa poses unique challenges, as Milliman’s David Kirk and Chris Harner discuss.

27 March 2020 - By Samantha J. D’Anna, Adam Feller, Matthew Hayes, Kate Herbig, Michelle Klein

This article provides an overview of the Medicare Part D Senior Savings Model and highlights key considerations for plan sponsors.

27 March 2020 - By Joy A. Schwartzman, Philip S. Borba

With the unprecedented challenges presented by the current and future effects of COVID-19, management and directors will need to be cautious with their decisions and consider consequences not presented in prior difficult times.

27 March 2020 - By Kenneth L. Clark, Nick Ortner

This issue brief explores the resources available to help carriers quantify the expected effect of possible Medicare Supplement medical underwriting application changes and considerations.

27 March 2020 - By Paul Anderson, Eric P. Krafcheck, Katherine A. Pipkorn

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, auto insurers may likely see short- and possibly long-term effects in their claims experience.

23 March 2020 - By Sean Silva, John R. Botsford, Ilina Ingolia

This article contains specific information about what the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” covers.

23 March 2020 - By Paul R. Houchens, Hans K. Leida, Lindsy Kotecki

This report looks at the different outcomes for the 50 states from the Affordable Care Act in terms of reduction of the uninsured rate, cost, and availability of health insurance coverage.

23 March 2020 - By Ladd E. Preppernau, Carrie Vaughn

On the heels of the dot-com bust from 2000-2002 and the global financial crisis in 2008, can multiemployer plans survive a third “once-in-a-lifetime” event?

20 March 2020 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

Equity markets started the month strongly as they initially shrugged off concerns about the coronavirus epidemic.

20 March 2020 - By Susan Philip, Susan E. Pantely

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, could telehealth have the potential to replace some in-person services and better triage care based on needs?

19 March 2020 - By Matthias Kullowatz

This report discusses findings from Milliman’s research into policyholder behavior for variable annuity contracts with guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit riders.

19 March 2020 - By Tim E. Hill, Susan J. Saip

Milliman conducted a new broad-based survey on multi-year guaranteed annuities, capturing historical data for key industry competitors, as well as company perspectives on a range of issues pertaining to these products into the future.

18 March 2020 - By Nicholas Johnson, Christopher Kunkel, Annie Hallum

With calendar year 2021 Medicare Advantage (MA) deadlines approaching, state Medicaid agencies and MA plans offering Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans must quickly determine how to fulfill new integration requirements mandated by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

17 March 2020 - By Susan J. Forray

Healthcare providers, facilities, and MPL writers can expect direct and indirect impacts from the coronavirus pandemic—with the indirect impact possibly proving more impactful over the long term.

16 March 2020 - By Fred Vosvenieks

Firms need to be thinking and acting with dynamism to manage the here and now of the global coronavirus pandemic and plan effectively for multiple future scenario pathways.

13 March 2020 - By Stephanie Moench, Shawn Stender

This article explores three possible future paths for long-term care (LTC) insurance funding and the associated implications for the private LTC industry.

13 March 2020 - By Jeff Anderson, Mike A. Bergerson

What are the advantages and disadvantages of long-term care policy buyouts from various stakeholder perspectives?

12 March 2020 - By Colleen Norris, Brent Jensen, Dustin J. Grzeskowiak

This paper provides an in-depth technical evaluation of Direct Contracting, based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services request for applications, along with comparisons to its sister programs—Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and Next Generation ACO.

11 March 2020 - By Jonathan B. Glowacki, Edem Togbey, Zach Prieston, Arthur Prieston

In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, many risk managers were caught flat-footed with representations and warranties exposure, also commonly known as repurchase exposure.

11 March 2020 - By Chris Harner, Chris Beck, Blake Fleisher

A cyberattack on even a mid-sized bank could ultimately cause a cascading failure of interbank funding, leading to a tipping point for a broader systemic liquidity crisis.

11 March 2020 - By Jeffrey T. Marzinsky

The 1,190.95-point Dow decline on February 27, 2020, is the largest we’ve seen in the history of the Dow and amounts to a drop of over 4.4%.

10 March 2020 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

In February, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans fell by $71 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

09 March 2020 - By Joanne Buckle, Tanya Hayward, Natasha Singhal, Kishan Desai

This paper discusses the implementation and practical uses of wearable technology in the private medical insurance market.

09 March 2020 - By Chris Harner, Chris Beck, Blake Fleisher

Cyber is proving to be the ultimate enterprise risk, encompassing not only information technology but also risks involving vendors, people, legal questions, and reputation, all while moving with stealth and a velocity that is extremely difficult to cope with.

06 March 2020 - By Ian Laverty

This article takes a deep dive into changes stemming from the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 and provides additional insight into the new law, particularly as it relates to individual annuity contracts.

06 March 2020 - By Joanne Buckle, Kevin Manning

Every country has its own, unique healthcare system, but within these disparate systems there are shared approaches that cross borders and languages, and we explore some of these similarities in this episode of Critical Point.

05 March 2020 - By Ashlee Mouton Borcan

For insurers, innovation is a key factor to increasing market share and improving customer retention.

05 March 2020 - By Jeffrey R. Reardon

This article helps identify restricted employees and explains how their lump-sum benefit form option may be affected.

05 March 2020 - By Pauric Mullan, Sinéad Clarke

This analysis compares information provided in the Quantitative Reporting Templates and Solvency and Financial Condition Reports and draws conclusions about the balance sheets and risk exposures of European health insurers, including comparisons with previous years.

03 March 2020 - By David G. Hayes, Rachel W. Killian, Shyam Kolli

What are considerations for health plans when determining capital requirements?

03 March 2020 - By Robert L. Schmidt

The financial risks associated with offering a health benefit plan can’t be entirely eradicated, but there are many proactive steps plan sponsors can take to optimize their approaches to health benefits.

03 March 2020 - By Safder Jaffer, Asad Irshad

The UAE insurance market continued its trend for a third consecutive year with an overall increase in profitability along with premium growth in 2019.

03 March 2020 - By Michelle Richter

More can be done by representatives of the fiduciary advice, annuity, and technology industries working together both to overcome negative perceptions and to better integrate annuities into the holistic planning solutions that fee-based advisers use.

03 March 2020 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block is estimated to be 224 bps as of the end of February 2020, up 24 basis points from the previous month, driven by a decrease in long-term interest rates.

03 March 2020 - By Matthew McIlvanna, Aisling Barrett

(Re)insurance undertakings completing their Solvency II reporting are required to submit four reporting templates analysing the variance over the year. EIOPA’s explanatory note on these templates was updated most recently in July 2018 with the updated Implementing Technical Standards and LOG files published in November 2018. In this briefing note we discuss these templates and provide insight on how to approach them.

02 March 2020 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Monthly benefits news and developments in the United States.

02 March 2020 - By Rebecca A. Sielman

The estimated funded status of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans grew from 72.7% at the end of September 2019 to 74.9% at the end of December 2019 as measured by the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index.

27 February 2020 - By Cameron Gleed, Jason Karcher, Jason J. Petroske

This white paper evaluates the implications of the risk adjustment data validation program from the perspective of issuer results with an eye for what the actual impacts say about the program’s performance.

26 February 2020 - By Mary Leong, Ryan Cook

The Milliman Pension Buyout Index uses the FTSE Above Median AA Curve and annuity purchase composite interest rates from several insurance companies to estimate the cost, as a percentage of accounting liability, of transferring retiree pension obligations to an insurer.

26 February 2020 - By Vanessa M. Vaag, Mary Hart

This article confirms that certain defined benefit (DB) pension plan changes included in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act may lead to technical and administrative concerns for DB plan sponsors, who should be prepared to address them after careful inspection of the new law.

24 February 2020 - By Nina M. Lantz, Rex Barker, Timothy L. Connor, Stuart Kliternick, Joel E. Stewart, William Wade

Milliman’s December 2019 Multiemployer Pension Funding Study reports on the estimated funded status of all U.S. multiemployer defined benefit plans as of December 31, 2019.

24 February 2020 - By Brian N. Anderson, Greg Callahan

One of the most important ways plan sponsors can lower healthcare costs without significantly changing their benefits is to look for opportunities to improve their pharmacy benefit manager contract.

21 February 2020 - By George Barrett, Claire Booth, Tanya Hayward

How has automation affected—and how will it continue to affect—the nature of insurance companies’ processes and the nature of their clients’ needs?

20 February 2020 - By Thomas M Carrabine

With rising healthcare costs and people living longer, trustees of multiemployer plans may want to ask themselves: How can we better support our members in retirement when addressing healthcare costs?

20 February 2020 - By Neil Dissanayake, Paul Fulcher, Emma Hutchinson, Peter Lin, Dmitry Zamkovoy, Sihong Zhu

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority recently published its first discussion paper on IBOR transition.

19 February 2020 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

After a very strong performance in 2019, equity markets started 2020 on the back foot due to fears of a coronavirus outbreak and rising tensions between the US and Iran.

19 February 2020 - By Andrew Dilworth, Paul R. Houchens

This report provides an analysis of the recently released 2019 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program Scorecard.

19 February 2020 - By Takanori Hoshino, William C. Hines

This briefing note illustrates potential differences between the International Financial Reporting Standard for insurance contracts and US GAAP long-duration contract targeted improvements using a traditional level premium endowment contract.

18 February 2020 - By Eoin O'Baoighill, Gillian Tucker, Divey Hiranandani, Gavin Maher

Non-life (re)insurers are continuing to take a growing interest in data science. Here we discuss the results of a recent survey of activity in this area.

18 February 2020 - By T. Scott Bentley, Nick Ortner

This report is Milliman’s triennial summary of estimated U.S. average utilization, billed charges, and resulting per member per month costs for organ and tissue transplants.

14 February 2020 - By Julia M. Friedman, Brett L. Swanson, Mary G Yeh, Jordan Cates

This report highlights key changes in member premiums and benefits for the 2020 Medicare Advantage (MA) market, as well as the contributing factors for, and the magnitude of, the increase in value added within the MA market each year from 2016 to 2020.

14 February 2020 - By Heerak Basu, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar, Richard W. Holloway

On 4 February, Milliman hosted an event on the forward perspective of the life insurance industry in Bangladesh. At the event, participants were polled on various aspects of the life insurance industry in Bangladesh.

14 February 2020 - By Joanne E. Fontana, David Bahlinger, Michael E. Weilant

Milliman’s 2019 Dental Survey represents 50 carriers and $31.5 billion of inforce premium.

14 February 2020 - By Robert Eaton, William G. Mehilos, David Bahlinger, Michael E. Weilant

Milliman’s 2019 Worksite Life Survey represents 21 carriers and $2 billion in inforce premium.

14 February 2020 - By Robert Eaton, William G. Mehilos, David Bahlinger, Michael E. Weilant

Milliman’s 2018 Worksite Life Survey represents 13 carriers and nearly $1.7 billion in inforce premium and focuses on term, whole life, and universal life products.

13 February 2020 - By David Bahlinger, Darrell D. Spell, Michael E. Weilant

Milliman’s 2019 Accident Insurance Survey represents 42 carriers and $2.4 billion in inforce premium.

13 February 2020 - By Ashlee Mouton Borcan, Jennifer O’Brien Howard, David Bahlinger, Darrell D. Spell, Michael E. Weilant

Milliman’s 2019 Hospital Indemnity Survey represents 32 carriers and $1.3 billion in inforce premium.

13 February 2020 - By Ashlee Mouton Borcan, David Bahlinger, Jennifer O’Brien Howard, Darrell D. Spell, Michael E. Weilant

Milliman’s 2017 Hospital Indemnity Survey represents 23 carriers and $1.3 billion in inforce premium in the hospitality indemnity market.

12 February 2020 - By Susan J. Saip, Carl A. Friedrich

In 2019, Milliman conducted its second biennial broad-based survey on term life insurance.

11 February 2020 - By Charlie Mills, Chris Smith

This paper explores the minimum savings rate (MSR)/minimum loss rate (MLR) options available to accountable care organizations (ACOs) and presents perspective on what ACOs should consider when selecting the MSR/MLR under a Medicare Shared Savings Program track with downside risk.

10 February 2020 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Monthly benefits news and developments in the United States.

10 February 2020 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

In January, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans fell by $73 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

08 February 2020 - By Christine M. Mytelka, Susan E. Pantely, Catherine E Lewis , Katherine Wentworth, Nick A Bauman

State program directors face many complex considerations as they evaluate the Healthy Adult Opportunity 1115 waiver option.

06 February 2020 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block is estimated to be 200 bps as of the end of January 2020.

06 February 2020 - By Charles J. Clark, Deborah Lachner

The new SECURE Act might have a few surprises for employers and their TPA business partners when it comes to managing retirement plans.

04 February 2020 - By Judith-Anne Brelih, Jonathan B. Glowacki

The latest monthly estimate of the lifetime default risk of U.S.-backed mortgages.

04 February 2020 - By Sam Shellabarger, Charlie Mills, Lance D. Anderson

What are the potential effects of prospective and retrospective assignment on key accountable care organization metrics under the Medicare Shared Savings Program?

04 February 2020 - By Matthew McIlvanna, Sinéad Clarke, Aisling Barrett

This briefing note highlights some interesting information published in the Solvency and Financial Condition Reports of life insurance companies in Ireland at year end 2018, focussing on premiums, investments and solvency coverage.

03 February 2020 - By Sinéad Clarke, Diana Dodu, Tanya Hayward, Judith Houtepen, Lindsy Kotecki, Monika Lis, Erica Rode, Rong Yi

This paper sets out a ‘how-to’ guide to risk equalisation, or risk adjustment.

03 February 2020 - By Ian Laverty

Annuities in retirement plans such as the 401(k) may have become more attractive to consumers, plan sponsors, and annuity writers after passage of the SECURE Act.

03 February 2020 - By Matthew J. Kramer, Erica Reijula, Sam Shellabarger

What are the similarities and differences in the financial benchmark methodology between the Direct Contracting payment model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program?

30 January 2020 - By Stoddard Davenport, Ally Weaver, Marissa North

This paper studies the prevalence of mental health and substance use disorders within commercially insured families in the United States to understand the likelihood of a household being affected by these conditions.

28 January 2020 - By Grace Chang, Li Feng, Bill Matczak, Karthik Yadatore

This paper focuses on the cash flow modeling aspects of Market Risk Benefits on fixed indexed annuities contracts, especially the methodology for projecting indexed account growth.

28 January 2020 - By Haitham Aly, Phil Ellenberg, Shyam Kolli, Josh Reinstein

This paper provides a summary of the key provisions of the price transparency final rule that apply to hospitals, briefly touching on topics that require additional consideration by parties affected by the rule.

24 January 2020 - By Jessica Crowson, David Burston, Neil Christy, Stuart Reynolds, Aisling Barrett, Eoin King, Bridget MacDonnell, Kendall Carolissen, François de Wouters, Luca Cavaliere, Aldo Balestreri, Dominic Clark, Jaroslaw Lech

On 15 October 2019 EIOPA issued a second wave of consultation covering a wide range of areas.

23 January 2020 - By Eoin King, Bridget MacDonnell, Aisling Barrett

This briefing discusses an overview of the Solvency II 2020 review, the latest risk management developments and an overview of 2018 SFCR information for the Irish insurance industry.

22 January 2020 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

European equity markets continued their positive performance in December as a “phase one” trade deal agreement was reached between the US and China.

22 January 2020 - By Joe Becker

In the life of the U.S. economy and its financial markets, 2019 was in many ways an exceptional year.

17 January 2020 - By Kelly S. Backes, Greg J. Herrle, Douglas I. Rodrigues

This paper explores the various components of Medicare Advantage revenue, avenues Medicare Advantage organizations may explore to increase their Part C and Part D revenues, and key considerations for each approach.

17 January 2020 - By Jennifer O’Brien Howard, Stacy Koron

Small companies in the supplemental health products market need to understand the unique challenges these products present in order to compete effectively.

17 January 2020

Markets were largely up for the quarter as investors reacted to easing trade tensions and reduced fears of a recession.

17 January 2020 - By Matt Cheung, Ian Laverty, Zi Xiang Low, Bill Matczak, Zohair Motiwalla

In the third quarter of 2019, Milliman conducted a survey to establish market practice in the application of VM21: Principle-Based Reserves for Variable Annuities.

16 January 2020 - By Kelly S. Backes, Katherine N. Kroening, Douglas I. Rodrigues , Gokce Yilmaz

This paper provides a brief overview of the upcoming end-stage renal disease Medicare Advantage eligibility change and key questions each Medicare Advantage organization should consider when planning for 2021.

15 January 2020 - By Joseph Boschert, Jim Hong, Kyle Ligon

This paper analyzes Medicare Advantage claims and membership data to evaluate the risk and costs associated with opioid use disorder.

10 January 2020 - By Jill S. Herbold, Melanie K. Kuester

This paper discusses several decision points and considerations for states evaluating a single preferred drug list requirement.

10 January 2020 - By Christine Jello, Suzanne Norman, Patricia L. Renzi

Women face unique obstacles in securing the necessary roadmap for retirement.

09 January 2020 - By Rob Frize, Bridget MacDonnell

On December 24, 2019 the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority announced its latest consultation on changes to the Corporate Governance Code for Insurers. This briefing note summarises the changes which relate to governance requirements for captive insurers, recovery planning and enterprise risk management frameworks.

08 January 2020 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

The President on Dec. 20, 2019, signed the "Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020" into law (P.L. 116-94), funding government agencies for the remainder of the 2020 federal fiscal year (ending Sept. 30, 2020). The law includes significant provisions – some mandatory, some optional – affecting employer-sponsored retirement and health benefit plans.

08 January 2020 - By Christopher Kunkel, Jordan Pettibon

Which options do Medicare Advantage enrollees look at most when choosing a plan?

08 January 2020 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

The year 2019 was characterized by strong investment returns alongside sharply decreasing discount rates that resulted in an overall $30 billion drop in funded status.

07 January 2020 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Monthly benefits news and developments in the United States.

07 January 2020 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block (see Index Methodology1) is estimated to be 182 bps as of the end of December 2019, down 10 basis point from the previous month, driven by an increase in long-term interest rates.

07 January 2020 - By Neil Cantle, Claire Booth

This client briefing describes the proposals of the 2021 biennial exploratory scenario.

07 January 2020 - By Lindsy Kotecki, Stan Westrom

This case study discusses the actuarial implications of one potential Medicare buy-in option.

07 January 2020 - By Anna Bunger, Madeleine Cline, Katherine M. Holcomb

This study provides claim cost benchmarks to illustrate the magnitude and distribution of specialty medication costs adjudicated under both the pharmacy and medical benefit for a commercially insured population.

07 January 2020 - By Neil Christy, Stuart Reynolds, William Smith

This report focusses on the Solvency and Financial Condition Reports published in 2019 which refer to year-end 2018.

07 January 2020 - By David Burston, Stuart Reynolds, Philip Simpson, Lyndsay Wrobel

This publication focusses on assessing various shareholder metrics as at year-end 2018, based on publicly disclosed information, that could be used by interested parties - such as investors or market analysts - to form a view on the profitability of a firm’s business.

07 January 2020 - By Ben Mori, Tyler Schulze, Jason A. Clarkson

This paper contains a summary of the key elements of the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation’s proposed changes to supplemental payments that may be relevant to state Medicaid agencies.

06 January 2020 - By Joseph Boschert, Janet Jennings, Robert L. Schmidt

This paper examines the various connections between health and wealth as well as the repercussions of ignoring those connections.

06 January 2020 - By Joseph Boschert, Janet Jennings, Robert L. Schmidt

People are looking for ways to protect their long-term health and wealth, and they expect their financial advisers to create more comprehensive financial plans that will help them achieve this goal.

06 January 2020 - By Lalit Baveja, Alison Counihan, Tanya Hayward, Monika Lis, Neha Taneja

What are the best practices for designing and implementing a wellness programme?

03 January 2020 - By Mike Gaal, Jason Karcher

How much will single-payer healthcare in the United States cost and how will it be paid?

23 December 2019 - By Rebecca A. Sielman

20 December 2019 - By Paul Sinnott, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wing F. Wong, Chihong An, Wen Yee Lee, Stephen H. Conwill, Sanket Kawatkar, Shamit Gupta

This report provides a summary of the mid-year 2019 embedded value results disclosed by Asian insurers.

17 December 2019 - By Jiang Guanjun

In China, the Action Plan for Promoting the High Quality Development of the Healthcare Industry 2019-2022 promotes, in the development of health insurance products, the use of special needs medical services, innovative medical technologies and drugs and high-end medical devices as well as health intervention procedures.

13 December 2019 - By Hyunsu Kim, Michael Leitschkis

This paper considers a technique called the Isolation Forest, which overcomes the shortcomings of classic anomaly detection algorithms.

13 December 2019 - By Mark C. Olleman, Matt Larrabee

This paper presents two alternative options for mortality projection based on historical mortality improvement data.

12 December 2019 - By Sheri Lee Scott

With the peril of California wildfires growing, what's ahead for the insurance industry?

12 December 2019 - By Patrick Meghen, Ellen Matthews

The full slide deck from the Solvency II Compliance Assessment Tool User Seminar on 26th November 2019.

11 December 2019 - By Michael C. Meehan

Michael Meehan discusses the current captive marketplace in Cayman.

11 December 2019 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

European equity markets had a solid performance in November as optimism grew that a “phase one” trade deal agreement may be reached between the US and China.

11 December 2019 - By Joe Becker

The global equity market in November posted its third consecutive monthly return of more than 2% and its ninth positive monthly return for 2019.

10 December 2019 - By Noah Champagne, Dane Hansen

As the prevalence of partnerships between payers and providers increases, it is critical for payers to monitor and track emerging experience and communicate these results to partner providers.

10 December 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Monthly benefits news and developments in the United States.

09 December 2019 - By Joseph Sloan , Rik van Beers, Andrew Kay

This briefing note discusses considerations when determining the Fair Value of insurance liabilities.

06 December 2019 - By David Stoddard

The Milliman Multiemployer Health and Welfare Study analyzes various financial disclosures for multiemployer health and welfare plans, also known as Taft-Hartley plans, nationwide.

05 December 2019 - By Joanne Buckle, Tanya Hayward, Natasha Singhal

The value of care categories assess the validity and efficacy of treatments in relation to associated conditions to inform where groups of patients may benefit from alternative pathways.

05 December 2019 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

In November, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans increased by $15 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

05 December 2019 - By David V. Williams, Donna Wix

What are the prevalence rates for rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and hemophilia as compared to zombie statistics commonly cited?

04 December 2019 - By Julia M. Friedman

What are the advantages of adding a segmented plan to a Medicare Advantage organization portfolio and what are the bid requirements for segmented plans?

03 December 2019 - By Brian Colgan, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway, David Kong

Developments in the Indonesian life insurance industry during the period 1 July 2019 to 30 September 2019.

03 December 2019 - By David Evans

Offering the right benefits has become even more important for employers trying to attract and retain top talent.

03 December 2019 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block (see Index Methodology1) is estimated to be 192 bps as of the end of November 2019, up 1 basis point from the previous month, driven by a slight decrease in long-term interest rates.

02 December 2019 - By Derek Newton, Marc Smillie , Flavien Thery

The analyses underlying this research report focus on the quantitative information contained in the Quantitative Reporting Templates within the Solvency and Financial Condition Reports and draw conclusions about the balance sheets and risk exposures of European non-life insurers.

02 December 2019 - By Eamonn Phelan

In this paper, we look at the central role that can be played by an Expert Judgment Register.

26 November 2019 - By Robert W. Beal, Tasha S. Khan

This report presents the results of Milliman’s 2019 Annual Survey of the U.S. Individual Disability Income Insurance Market.

26 November 2019 - By Grant Camp, Ryan Rowland

This alert summarizes key aspects of the proposed Multiemployer Pension Recapitalization and Reform Plan.

26 November 2019 - By Jason A. Clarkson, Zachary Fohl, Paul R. Houchens

These state profiles summarize insurer financials, marketplace enrollment, and federal assistance provided to households purchasing insurance coverage through the insurance marketplaces, incorporating recently released data from the 2019 open enrollment period and estimated 2019 effectuated enrollment.

25 November 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Michael Daly, Pingni Eng, Wen Yee Lee

Accelerated growth in Vietnam? Forty senior leaders from different functions of life insurance respond to questions about interest rates, regulatory change, insurtech, and more.

25 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

This card lists the 2020 key limits for employer-sponsored retirement plans, Social Security and Medicare levels, and health savings account limits set by federal agencies.

25 November 2019 - By Sinéad Clarke, Ellen Matthews

To help prepare for Solvency II reporting throughout 2020, we have prepared a briefing note detailing Solvency II reporting deadlines in 2020 and the changes in the reporting framework relative to the previous year.

22 November 2019 - By Noah Llanda

This alert focuses on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) annual report as it pertains to the PBGC Multiemployer Program.

22 November 2019 - By Eamon Comerford, Cormac Gleeson

This briefing note discusses how the use of external data can complement wider data science initiatives and looks at some of the challenges posed by working with external data.

22 November 2019 - By Jeremy Hamilton, Allen J. Schmitz, Ali M Yeager

How does spousal contagion influence long-term care needs?

20 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

The IRS has issued a proposed rule that would amend the life expectancy and distribution period tables used to calculate required minimum distributions (RMDs) from qualified retirement plans, profit-sharing and stock bonus plans, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and annuities, and 403(b) and 457 plans and certain other tax-favored employer-provided retirement arrangements.

19 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Key administrative dates and deadlines for calendar-year defined contribution retirement plans subject to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.

19 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Monthly benefits news and developments in the United States.

19 November 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar

In recent years, capital has become more of a constraint for Indian life insurers. This survey of a majority of Indian insurers asks how they're managing risk.

19 November 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Shamit Gupta, Richard W. Holloway

The (re)insurance industry in Asia has recently seen signs of increased actuarial outsourcing. Is it a new trend?

19 November 2019 - By Bryan Jones

By tweaking existing familiar concepts—the funding liabilities—we can leverage the understanding that employers already have about their pension plans to explain various risks, some of which are very pertinent to decision making.

19 November 2019 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin, Nima Shahroozi

European equity markets had a mixed performance in October.

18 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Key administrative dates and deadlines for calendar-year single-employer defined benefit plans subject to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.

18 November 2019 - By Mark R. Shapland

Under Solvency II, non-life reserving risk takes on a meaning based on the change in the estimated ultimate loss over a one-year time horizon, which accounts for the payments during the one-year time horizon and the consequences for future payments after the one-year time horizon.

18 November 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Shamit Gupta, Richard W. Holloway

Milliman conducted a survey to assess trends in life insurance actuarial outsourcing.

15 November 2019 - By Mark R. Shapland

Under Solvency II, reserving risk takes on a different meaning, based on the change in the estimated ultimate loss over a one-year time horizon, which accounts for the payments during the one-year time horizon and the consequences for future payments (i.e., the change in reserves) after the one-year time horizon.

15 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

The Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for Medicare Parts A and B for 2020.

15 November 2019 - By Mark R. Shapland

This paper focuses on the closed form model developed by Mack, modified by Merz and Wüthrich to address the one-year horizon under Solvency II, and on its extension for two-year, three-year, etc. time windows that can be reconciled back to the original Mack formulas.

15 November 2019 - By Lalit Baveja, Carol Bazell, Alison Counihan

The successful adoption of value-based care in the Middle East faces important challenges.

14 November 2019 - By Gillian Tucker

This briefing note provides an introduction to data visualisation.

13 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

The Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule that, if finalized, will provide an additional "safe harbor" for plan administrators to use electronic media to furnish retirement plan information to participants and beneficiaries.

13 November 2019 - By François Dauphin, William C. Hines, Daniel D. Skwire

This paper illustrates the potential impacts of Accounting Standards Updates 2018-12, Targeted Improvements for Long-Duration Contracts, relative to current US GAAP accounting with respect to products with long claim periods such as individual disability insurance and highlights some practical implementation challenges.

12 November 2019 - By Mike Claffey, Rob Frize, Patrick Meghen

This briefing discusses Irish SFCRs in 2017 and 2018 and ORSA processes and outcomes.

11 November 2019 - By Joe Becker

The global equity market in October notched its second consecutive monthly return of more than 2% and its eighth positive monthly return for 2019.

11 November 2019 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

In October, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans increased by $11 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

11 November 2019 - By Eamon Comerford, Cormac Gleeson, Eoin King, Kevin Manning, Daniel McAleese, Matthew McIlvanna

The potential role of pooled investment funds in helping alleviate Ireland’s affordable housing crisis.

11 November 2019 - By Aisling Barrett, Eoin King

This briefing note summarises EIOPA’s October 2019 consultation paper on its opinion on the Solvency II 2020 review.

08 November 2019 - By Jeremy Cunningham, Mat DeLillo

This paper discusses the risks and considerations of changing Medicaid’s funding formula to a general block grant structure.

08 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

The 2020 adjusted figures for high-deductible health plans and health savings accounts included in this Client Action Bulletin were released by the IRS earlier this year and are provided here for convenience.

06 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

By year-end 2019, sponsors of calendar-year single-employer retirement plans must adopt necessary and discretionary plan amendments to ensure compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of ERISA and the tax code. This Client Action Bulletin looks at key areas - including administrative compliance issues - that defined benefit (DB) and/or defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors should address by Dec. 31, 2019.

06 November 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Key administrative dates and deadlines for defined benefit plans subject to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.

04 November 2019 - By Eric Buzby, Catherine M. Murphy-Barron

In the past two years, CMS has expanded the types and flexibility of supplemental benefits Medicare Advantage organizations (MAOs) can offer enrollees. This issue brief discusses the implications of actions taken by plans in response.

04 November 2019 - By Dominick Pizzano

This article highlights points to consider when conducting a Section 409A “to be or not to be” determination process.

01 November 2019 - By Jacob Bryniarski, Joanne E. Fontana

This article, using publicly available CMS data, explores the current landscape of dental benefits offered in Medicare Advantage plans, discussing the ramifications for insurers and consumers alike.

01 November 2019 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block (see Index Methodology1) is estimated to be 191 bps as of the end of October 2019, down 10 basis points from the previous month, driven by an increase in long-term interest rates.

01 November 2019 - By Dustin J. Grzeskowiak, Darin Muse, Daniel J. Perlman

There may be some uncertainty for plans and consumers alike around the Quality Information Rating Bulletin—specifically, what the quality scores represent, how they are developed, and/or how they may be used now or in the future.

29 October 2019 - By Dan Freeman, Mike Gaal, Cory Gusland, Jennifer Janvrin

Health and group benefits news and developments in the United States.

28 October 2019 - By David D. Evans, Cody Webb, Eric J Xu

Wildfire risk has become a key focus of California property insurers.

25 October 2019 - By Josh Dobiac, Ram Kelkar, Jeanne Russo , David Schreiner

Major initiatives are under way to reform interest rate benchmarks and move away from Interbank Offered Rates (IBOR) to overnight near risk-free rates.

24 October 2019 - By Sean S. Hilton, Thomas D. Murawski

Insurers who forgo periodic, comprehensive analyses to ensure the appropriateness of their dental rating manuals risk reduced product marketability (if rates are too high) or non-profitability and adverse selection (if rates are too low).

24 October 2019 - By Jason Karcher, Jason J. Petroske, Cameron Gleed

This article breaks down the purpose and technical details of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act risk adjustment data validation audit.

24 October 2019 - By Claire Booth, Tanya Hayward, Peter Moore, Thomas Peplow

This paper discusses the areas which should be assessed before, during and after embarking on an outsourcing agreement with a cloud provider.

22 October 2019 - By Thomas Bulpitt, Andrew Kay, Henny Verheugen

This note summarises some of the key points and remaining issues raised during the consultation period for the Exposure Draft, particularly those raised by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group and the European Insurance CFO Forum.

18 October 2019 - By Benjamin J. Diederich, William J. Fox, Brent Jensen

Employers should adjust health plan options for morbidity in order to reduce the selection bias.

17 October 2019 - By Rex Barker, Kevin M. Campe, Timothy L. Connor, Stuart Kliternick, Nina M. Lantz, Ladd E. Preppernau, Joel E. Stewart

The Fall 2019 Multiemployer Pension Funding Study updates the estimated funded status of U.S. multiemployer plans as of June 30, 2019, showing the change in funding levels from December 31, 2018.

17 October 2019 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin

European equity markets made a strong recovery in September as the ECB cut the benchmark rate by 10 basis points and restarted its asset purchase programme in response to a weaker economic outlook.

17 October 2019 - By Joanne Buckle, Alison Counihan, Tanya Hayward, Nicholas Kallis, Bridget MacDonnell, Kevin Manning, Neha Taneja

This guide can assist managers in thinking through the practical components of a population health management programme, from overall objectives and definitions, through to the people, processes and technology enablers that are so critical for success.

15 October 2019 - By Joe Becker

Global equities rallied in September, recovering all of their losses from August and notching their third consecutive quarter of positive returns.

15 October 2019 - By Michelle Klein, Matt Kranovich

This paper highlights several key changes to Medicare Plan Finder— and potential unintended consequences— and offers suggestions as to how those changes could potentially affect Medicare Advantage Organizations.

14 October 2019 - By Joanne E. Fontana

New trends in dental care and insurance coverage are aimed at improving the patient experience as Milliman’s Joanne Fontana discusses.

10 October 2019 - By Demosthenis Demosthenous, Ed Morgan

The Greek insurance market contracted every year between 2009 and 2016, and even with improvement in the last couple of years, is still nearly 30% below the peak level reached in 2009.

10 October 2019 - By Claire Booth, Emma Hutchinson

This paper discusses the key findings of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s report titled ‘Cyber Risk for Insurers- Challenges and Opportunities’ with respect to cyber risk as an element of an insurer’s own operational risk profile.

10 October 2019 - By Ankush Aggarwal, Joanne Buckle, Tanya Hayward

This report provides an updated view of National Health Service England prescription drug costs for financial year 2018/2019.

09 October 2019

Markets were mixed for the quarter as investors digested potential risks and opportunities in the market.

09 October 2019 - By Milliman Employee Benefits Research Group

Monthly benefits news and developments in the United States.

08 October 2019 - By Patrika Bansal, Heerak Basu

This briefing note analyses the evolution of the discount rate for measuring employee benefit obligations under AS15(R), AS19 and IAS19.

08 October 2019 - By Stoddard Davenport, Stephen P. Melek

Milliman has been retained by a number of state agencies to advise them on appropriate methods by which to conduct parity compliance analyses and audits for nonquantitative treatment limitations.

07 October 2019 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

In September, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans rose by $38 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

04 October 2019 - By Arthur Rains-McNally, William Strange

This article presents perspectives on the challenges of the current interest rate environment.

03 October 2019 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block (see Index Methodology1) is estimated to be 201 bps as of the end of September 2019, down 10 basis points from the previous month, driven by an increase in long-term interest rates.

02 October 2019

EIOPA published its first wave of consultation papers on the Solvency II 2020 review in June 2019. This briefing note summarises EIOPA’s proposals regarding Insurance Guarantee Schemes.

02 October 2019 - By David Burston, Neil Christy, Jessica Crowson, Stuart Reynolds

EIOPA published its first wave of consultation papers on the Solvency II 2020 review in June 2019. This briefing note summarises EIOPA’s proposals regarding the Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR).

02 October 2019 - By Divey Hiranandani, Eoin King, Ellen Matthews

EIOPA published its first wave of consultation papers on the Solvency II 2020 review in June 2019. This briefing note summarises EIOPA’s proposals regarding the Quantitative Reporting Templates.

02 October 2019 - By Jean-Baptiste Coulomb, Adeline Maulet, Eliott Pradat , Badis Zeghmar

EIOPA published its first wave of consultation papers on the Solvency II 2020 review in June 2019. This briefing note summarises EIOPA’s proposals regarding general issues on supervisory reporting and public disclosure.

02 October 2019 - By Jean-Baptiste Coulomb, Adeline Maulet, Eliott Pradat , Badis Zeghmar

EIOPA published its first wave of consultation papers on the Solvency II 2020 review in June 2019. This briefing note summarises EIOPA’s proposals regarding Financial Stability Reporting.

02 October 2019 - By Derek Newton, Marc Smillie , Flavien Thery

This report summarises the third set of Solvency II public reports, the Solvency and Financial Condition Reports, as they relate to non-life insurers in the UK or Gibraltar.

01 October 2019 - By Utku Cagatay Arslan, Ayse Pinar Coban, Halil Kolbasi, William Smith , Jennifer Strickland

This report focuses on the preparedness of Turkish insurers and reinsurers for the new accounting standard, International Financial Reporting Standard 17.

01 October 2019 - By Thomas Poinsignon

The recent increase in the amount of data generated, stored and analysed by insurers to establish their pricing and underwriting policies has led to the emergence of new needs both from a regulatory point of view, with the recent implementation of the European framework of the General Data Protection Regulation and with a view to offering new services on the market (cyber risk).

30 September 2019 - By Eoin O'Baoighill, Eamonn Phelan

This briefing note discusses some of the tools and techniques that can be used to validate and understand black box models.

24 September 2019

The Segal Blend method of determining withdrawal liabilities in multiemployer pension plans was ruled improper in a recent case with the New York Times but it has been upheld in others, leaving the issue open for future challenges.

23 September 2019 - By David D. Evans, Nancy P. Watkins

This article provides an overview of the trends in the U.S. private flood market.

23 September 2019 - By Rachin Aggarwal, Abhishek Agrawal

This article examines how the concept of a standard health product would benefit various stakeholders in India.

20 September 2019 - By Anne C. Kallfisch, Dana S. Ryan

Insurtech presents unique opportunities for new and established insurers in the title space to innovate and gain market share.

18 September 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar

This e-Alert provides background on the emerging Bangladeshi life insurance market.

17 September 2019 - By Aisling Barrett, Eamon Comerford, Joseph Sloan

A breakfast briefing on investment strategies under Solvency II.

16 September 2019 - By Mike Hamachek, Christopher Kunkel

What happened in the first year of Merit-Based Incentive Payment System reporting?

16 September 2019 - By Molly Barth, John W. Rollins

The visibility of climate’s impact on property hazard is increasingly leading individuals and their chosen leaders to ask: how might an increase in hazard affect the desirability of living in various communities, and how do we manage the socioeconomic impacts?

13 September 2019 - By Chihong An, Stephen H. Conwill, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wen Yee Lee, Paul Sinnott, Wing F. Wong

The Milliman 2018 Embedded Value Results: Asia report provides in-depth analysis of the embedded value methodologies and assumptions adopted as well as the impact of key regulations and other market developments in the region.

12 September 2019 - By Patrick Meghen

With the recent increase in regulatory focus on outsourcing, (re)insurers need to ensure that their system of governance, risk management and monitoring of outsourcing arrangements all satisfy the expectations of the regulator.

11 September 2019 - By Carol Bazell, Dane Hansen, Pamela M. Pelizzari, Bruce S. Pyenson

This report discusses the economic and clinical burden of new osteoporotic fractures that occurred in 2015 in the Medicare fee-for-service population using information from a large administrative medical claims database.

10 September 2019 - By Joe Becker

Global equities notched their worst month of the summer amidst heightened volatility.

09 September 2019 - By Chihong An, Stephen H. Conwill, Michael Daly, Richard W. Holloway, Wen Yee Lee, Paul Sinnott, Wing F. Wong

This report compares and contrasts the various different approaches taken to embedded value reporting across Asian markets and insurers.

09 September 2019 - By Joanne Buckle, Tanya Hayward

This paper outlines some of the key considerations associated with using real-world data to widen the evidence base used in economic evaluations.

06 September 2019 - By Charles J. Clark, Zorast Wadia

In August, the funded status deficit of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans increased by $87 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index.

05 September 2019 - By Ram Kelkar, Daren Lockwood, Xiaohong Mo, Adam Schenck

The expected hedge cost for a hypothetical GLWB block (see Index Methodology1) is estimated to be 211 bps as of the end of August 2019, up 38 basis points from the previous month, driven by a decrease in long-term interest rates.

03 September 2019 - By Joe Becker

Market observers have posited in recent years that Volatility Control funds represent a focal point of instability for financial markets.

30 August 2019 - By Rachel Soich

Due to the growing instability of directors and officers coverage, insurers have their eyes on three rising risks: increased securities action lawsuits, heightened awareness to social issues, and growing cyber risks and data protection laws.

29 August 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Michael Daly, Janice Wang

The Milliman Fulfillment Ratio Index covers Hong Kong life insurance companies representing a significant market share as measured by in-force premiums.

23 August 2019 - By Dana-Marie Dick, Natasha Singhal

This paper considers the current and developing regulation, in the UK and Europe, surrounding climate change-related risks, the risk identification and risk management practices available to insurers and examples of the key challenges faced by insurers in response to climate change.

23 August 2019 - By Neil Dissanayake, Peter Lin

Equity markets had a modest performance in July as the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 25 points for the first time in 11 years.

23 August 2019 - By Raji Bhagavatula, Mark Goldburd, Manyi Luo , Jason L. Russ

The U.S. property and casualty insurance industry as a whole has experienced significant deterioration in loss ratios for general liability in calendar years 2015 to 2018.

22 August 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Scott Chow, Michael Daly, Paul Sinnott

This e-Alert gives an overview of the latest Quantitative Impact Study (QIS) 3 specifications and highlights some of the key differences with QIS 2.

22 August 2019 - By Cory Gusland, Daniel Henry, Raheel Sohail

This paper explores key model features of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s Primary Care First, a new voluntary payment model focused on primary care.

21 August 2019 - By Chris Beck, Chris Harner

There is a significant need in the market to transform cyber assessments, information technology metrics, and information security into the common language of risk management.

20 August 2019 - By Robert Eaton

Combination products provide valuable, and often substantial, health insurance coverage in the framework of a life insurance or annuity policy.

20 August 2019 - By Rachin Aggarwal, Joanne Buckle, Vidhi Gupta, Neha Taneja

This paper looks at the key provisions of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, mental illness prevalence, supply-side indicators and the current treatment gap.

19 August 2019 - By Brian Colgan, Halim Gunawan, Richard W. Holloway, David Kong

Developments in the Indonesian life insurance industry during the period 1 April 2019 to 30 June 2019

01 August 2019 - By Tim F. Kempen, Allen J. Schmitz

This report presents the results of our sixth triennial long-term care insurance valuation survey.

26 July 2019 - By Charlie Howell, Michael Leitschkis, Russell Ward

This paper introduces ESG Rebase, a technology capable of accurately translating a baseline risk-neutral Economic Scenario Generator file representing an entirely different set of market conditions, such as nominal yield curve, equity volatility vector or fixed interest volatility surface.

25 July 2019 - By Aaron C. Koch

An interview with Aaron Koch about the current state of affairs in the insurance-linked securities market and how captives are using this segment.

24 July 2019 - By Sinéad Clarke

This briefing note looks at the Year End 2018 Solvency and Financial Condition Reports (SFCRs) of a sample of life insurers based in Ireland and includes analysis of key information included in the Quantitative Reporting Templates published with the SFCRs.

23 July 2019 - By Patrick Meghen

The amendments to the Solvency II Delegated Regulations resulting from the 2018 interim review have now been published in the Official Journal of the EU.

23 July 2019 - By Van Beach

Understanding the business versus the operational skills and activities related to modeling holds the key to the new actuarial operating model.

22 July 2019 - By Heerak Basu, Richard W. Holloway, Philip Jackson, Sanket Kawatkar

This e-Alert highlights the key changes in regulations regarding non-linked and linked insurance products from 2013 to 2019 and discusses the business implications for insurers.

16 July 2019

How will rain and lingering flooding in the Midwest farm belt affect farmers’ choice of planting and insurers’ crop insurance losses?

11 July 2019 - By Brian N. Anderson, Greg Callahan, Michael DiPrima

This article describes the origin of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), how claims are processed, and ways in which blockchain could disrupt the PBM marketplace.

09 July 2019 - By Clement Bonnet, Brian Colgan, Michael Daly, Sharon Huang, Farzana Ismail, Philip Jackson, Wen Yee Lee, Atsushi Okawa, Wing F. Wong

This report covers the capital regimes in 10 markets in Asia plus the 2018 International Capital Standard field test.

08 July 2019 - By Matthew McIlvanna, Eoin O'Baoighill, Eamonn Phelan

This briefing note summarises EIOPA’s recent report on its thematic review of the uses of big data analytics in motor and health insurance.

08 July 2019 - By Ankush Aggarwal, Joanne Buckle, Pravin Harodia

What are the current and potential uses of generalised linear modelling in the Indian health market?

03 July 2019 - By Claire Booth, Paul Fulcher, Fred Vosvenieks, Russell Ward

This paper provides some context for a discussion of insurer liquidity risk, exploring sources of that risk and providing some examples of where it has challenged insurers in the past.

19 March 2019 - By Joy A. Schwartzman

As corporate officers reevaluate their current directors and officers coverage, it is important to thoroughly understand the type of coverage purchased and to quantify a board’s potential risk or “claim severity.”

18 September 2018 - By Robert W. Beal, Tasha S. Khan

This report presents the results of Milliman’s 2018 Annual Survey of the U.S. Individual Disability Income Insurance Market.

01 March 2017 - By Jeffery T. Dukes

Discounted accelerated benefits, where the accelerated benefit paid is a present value of expected claims less a present value of future premiums, are often believed to be cost neutral.

11 June 2012 - By Aldo Balestreri, Luca Cavaliere, Christophe Vallet, Takanori Hoshino, Takahiro Kinoshita

This report introduces modeling practices currently observed in France, Italy, and Japan in order to illustrate various issues that many companies are facing when modeling policyholder dividends under a market-consistent framework.

28 June 2010

The pension funding relief provisions of the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010 are generally effective the first day of the first plan year ending after August 31, 2008.

05 January 2009

This Multiemployer Alert focuses on the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 provisions that demand immediate or near-term decisions by multiemployer plan trustees.

26 May 2007 - By Wayne E. Blackburn, Derek A. Jones, Joy A. Schwartzman

This paper explores the concepts underlying the valuation of an insurance company in the context of how other (noninsurance) companies are valued.

14 December 2006 - By Gary Finkelstein, Takanori Hoshino, Rikiya Ino, Ed Morgan

This report endeavors to answer questions as well as to look at a few illustrative cases of how economic capital can be practically applied. The report will help decision-makers formulate an approach to economic capital that will align with their larger corporate strategies.

- By Michael Taggart, Don Biron

This 2020 market overview highlights some of the changes affecting the health and group benefit administration market that employers need to understand to take advantage of improvements and avoid issues in managing their administration providers.