Description: Following her first 100 days as the CMS Administrator, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure released her six strategic pillars for the agency. The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) followed these pillars and laid out their priorities for states under the Biden-Harris administration. With these priorities established, recent 1115 submissions from several large states, including California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, may give insight to how CMS will operationalize their vision under this program authority. This session will include presentation from state policy staff who have led recent 1115 waiver proposals. By attending the session, you will be able to: • Demonstrate understanding of the current administration’s strategic priorities for State Medicaid & CHIP programs. • Identify trends in recent 1115 waiver submissions.

Description: "Advancing health equity is one of the five strategic objectives outlined in the CMS Innovation Center's strategic objectives for the next ten years and is an increasing area of focus across many states. Focus in on recent developments in addressing Medicaid beneficiary needs related to social determinants of health (SDOH), health-related social needs (HRSN), and health disparities and inequities in Medicaid. Several states have introduced non-traditional benefits into their programs in recent years to address these areas, such as various types of housing supports, nutrition-related benefits, and enhanced/advanced case management support. Expect a discussion on the benefits introduced recently in states such as AZ, CA, MA, NC, and OR, including funding considerations around these benefits as well as the 1115 demonstration waiver authorities granted to these states to allow coverage for these non-traditional health care services.

Description: With the 2024 presidential election one week in the rear-view mirror, actuaries and health policy experts will discuss the potential health policy implications in the next four years in relation to the election results. Focus will be on the changing dynamics within Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces with the knowledge benefit of the next president having administrative experience in the ACA environment. Session attendees will be well-equipped to discuss the post-ACA health policy implementation of presidents Biden and Trump, recent policy proposals, and potential legislative/regulatory changes as a result of the 2024 election outcomes.

Description: Investigate the concept of value annuities and the potential cost-effective differences when compared to traditional annuities by attending this webcast. Value annuities are an alternative lifetime income solution where longevity and investment risks are born by a pool of annuitants rather than a centralized insurer. Join this webcast for a closer look at the practicalities of designing and administering a value pool. There will also be a focus on the legislative, regulator and supervisory implications.

Description: Knowing Dan and seeing him live his life in the community makes me a better Medicaid actuary. My experience as a Medicaid actuary makes me a better brother and guardian to Dan. I want to share our story and offer you our unique perspective on the Medicaid LTSS system through real-life examples. In this session, attendees can expect to learn about the following questions:

Description: The document provides information on the ACA@15 research project, focusing on the extent that the Affordable Care Act legislation was able to meet its stated goals of reducing the uninsured rate, increasing coverage options, and providing affordable health insurance. It includes research findings, objectives, and key takeaways.

Description: Come build, and move beyond, the SOA funded research in Minnesota about the creation of a public/private program to provide catastrophic long term care (LTSS) coverage for citizens. Since that time other states have begun to be engaged in this effort. California has approved a research effort to look at models for funding their citizens LTC needs. New York State, through the efforts of their governor, is also looking at reforms that at some point will include financing. Colorado has begun to look at this as well. And Minnesota has funded new efforts to develop more on its own about both the catastrophic idea funded by SOA but also how to expand and change the delivery of LTC through existing home and community-based programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. This raises the question of whether LTC reform in the states will take this direction as interest in raising taxes (whether general revenue or by a payroll deduction) faces headwinds. Come learn about the recent state efforts and have a chance to offer your own assessment.

Description: In this session, we will address the current landscape of the standalone Medicare Part D market and the challenges to its sustainability. Specifically, we will discuss some headwinds for plan sponsors due to the Inflation Reduction Act and future considerations for prescription drug plan (PDP) benefit design and pricing.

Description: Explore the findings from the research paper recently released by Milliman and the SOA, highlighting the growing need for support of informal/family caregivers. We will discuss both quantitative and qualitative data that illustrates not only the cost and burgeoning need, but the mental/emotional stressors that come along with this work.

Description: Currently there are ten states in the U.S. —Rhode Island, California, New Jersey, New York, Washington, DC; Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon and Colorado —that have enacted Paid Family Leave. Paid Family leave is an employee funded state insurance program that provides wage replacement to eligible workers when they take time off of work to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new child. Who pays the taxes? The employer or the employee? How will this effect short term disability benefit offerings in the work place? How does a Paid Family Leave plan get implemented? Is it up to the employee to file for the benefit through the unemployment office or does the employer file? At the state level, how is paid family leave reserved for? How is it administered? What job protections are there? How does this work with the Family Medical Leave Act? Get these and more questions answered. By attending this session, you should have an understanding of the state Paid Family Leave programs, what it means to future short term disability plans, and how the state accounts for this program.