Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello and Health Equity Committee Co-Chairperson Rebecca Sheppard gave an overview of the committee’s work on equity considerations related managing population health and risk adjustment to AHIP’s Health Equity Workgroup.

Academy Senior Health Policy Analyst Matthew Williams provided an update on the Health Practice Council (HPC) activities of interest to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Health Actuarial (B) Task Force during its 2023 Fall National Meeting. Topics included: updates on the Health Equity Committee’s workshops and symposium; long-term services and supports; tiered RBC factor development; and the key policy priorities for the HPC in 2024.

On November 16, 2023, Academy Health Equity Committee chairperson Annette James and member Yi-Ling Lin presented to the Southeastern Actuaries Conference (SEAC) on the importance of health equity and cross-collaboration with various stakeholders. The presentation also highlighted the 2023 workshops and symposium focusing on the intersection of benefit design and health equity.

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

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

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

Health Care Receivables Factors Work Group member David Quinn provided an update to the NAIC’s Health Risk-Based Capital (E) Working Group on the current and proposed H3 Factors.

The Health Solvency Subcommittee’s Health Underwriting Risk Factors Analysis Work Group sent a letter updating the NAIC’s Health Risk-Based Capital (E) Working Group (HRBC) on progress on the NAIC’s request to comprehensively review the H2—Underwriting Risk Component and the Managed Care Credit Calculation included in the HRBC formula.

Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello and Health Equity Committee members Ugo Okpewho and Sara Teppema gave an overview of the committee’s work on equity considerations related to provider contracting and network development to AHIP’s Health Equity Workgroup.

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