Actuarial Support Under Two Board Grants

The grants and surveys in the Health Care Coverage and Access program together form an integrated policy research program focused on the implementation challenges and effects of the Affordable Care Act’s sweeping insurance reforms.
As a group, these projects, led by nationally recognized health policy experts, are designed to help policymakers understand the best approaches to maximizing affordability and access for consumers in the marketplaces and state Medicaid programs. Under this grant, we are proposing to add to the program the actuarial expertise of Julia Lerche, currently with Wakely Consulting Group’s government services program, who will provide technical assistance to two grants under consideration by the July 2015 Board. The first, under the direction of Kevin Lucia, is focused on interpreting differences in the affordability of health plans in a set of states with variable insurance market characteristics and approaches to implementation. The second, under the direction of Mark Hall, will analyze insurer justifications for premium rate changes among insurers selling in the individual and small-group markets, both inside and outside the marketplaces. Ms. Lerche’s extensive background as public policy actuary focused on implementation of the ACA’s insurance market reforms both as a state government official and as an advisor to state governments will aid these two projects in informing policy makers about the factors underlying changes in the affordability of health plans.