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Oliver Wyman Releases Data to DOL on IRA Fiduciary Costs

"Long-awaited data showed a new standard could limit retirement investing services ... Brokers ... are 'not opposed to being held accountable' under a fiduciary standard, but the concern they have, and the reason they want EBSA to revise its rule proposal, is 'that under ERISA, unlike under securities laws, if the broker-dealer is a fiduciary then they would be prohibited from giving the investment services they give today' to IRA investors."

Stabilizing the Individual Health Insurance Market (PDF)

23 pages. "Market stabilization proposals currently under consideration include [1] appropriating and paying for the enhanced benefits insurers provide to low-income insureds through cost sharing reductions; [2] strong enforcement of the individual mandate; [3] external funding of $15 billion per year; and [4] the elimination of the 9010 HIT fee.... [The authors] find that the cited market stabilization provisions, combined, would increase enrollment by roughly 2 million individuals, reduce average premiums by more than 20 percent, and cost relatively little, when considering federal outlays for CSR spending and APTCs."

With ACA Repeal on Hold, Return of Health Insurance Tax Worries Business Groups

"[T]he 'annual fee,' which insurers call the Health Insurance Tax or HIT, remains on the books. The HIT took a holiday in 2017 thanks to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2015, but is scheduled to return next year.... [A] new report by Oliver Wyman estimates that the tax will increase premiums by 2.6% in 2018, and between 2.5% and 2.7% in later years when amounts collected are tied by law to premium trends."

Market Uncertainty Driving ACA Rate Increases

"Two market influences, in particular, are complicating 2018 rate setting: the uncertainty surrounding continued funding of cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments and the question of how the relaxation of the individual mandate will impact enrollment and risk pools.... [Up] to two-thirds of 2018 rate increases will be due to the uncertainty surrounding these two market influences."

Health Plans Covering Yoga: The Next Frontier?

"Insurers should cover 'new wellness- and prevention-oriented treatments such as yoga and meditation,' Sukanya Soderland, a partner in consulting firm Oliver Wyman's health practice, wrote recently in the Harvard Business Review.... Especially as the so-called 'Cadillac tax' on high-cost employer-based health plans is going to start sinking its teeth into those plans, why would any employer want to increase the likelihood of incurring that tax liability by channeling more of employees' compensation in to health plans that pay for benefits like yoga?"

Vendors Selected for Connecticut Feasibility Study of Public Retirement Plan for Private-Sector Employees

"The Connecticut Retirement Security Board (CRSB) has concluded its competitive bidding process and has selected Boston College's Center for Retirement Research to conduct a market analysis, and Mercer and Oliver Wyman to design a retirement program, conduct a financial feasibility study and provide general consulting services. Each designation is subject to successful contract negotiations.... 'The goal of this analysis is to explore a public retirement solution for private-sector employees and to fully consider the impact of each possible solution on retirement insecurity in Connecticut,' [State Comptroller Kevin Lembo] said."

Early Indications of Changes to the 2015 Medicare Advantage Payment Methodology and the Potential Effect on Medicare Advantage Organizations and Beneficiaries (PDF)

13 pages. Excerpt: "[T]he potential reductions that could be included in the 2015 Advance Notice, in combination with the continued phase-in of the ACA cuts and other legislative and regulatory cuts which come on top of significant cuts that occurred in 2014 ... could result in a significant amount of upheaval in the [Medicare Advantage (MA)] market. This includes the potential for plan exits, reductions in service areas, reduced benefits, provider network changes, and reduced MA enrollment as beneficiaries see a significant decline in plan value from 2014 to 2015."

Senate Hearing: 'A New, Open Marketplace: The Effect of Guaranteed Issue and New Rating Rules'

Video of full committee hearing on April 11, 2013. Includes links to testimony by Gary Cohen, Director, CCIIO; Kevin Counihan, CEO, Connecticut Health Insurance Marketplace; Sabrina Corlette, Research Professor and Project Director, Georgetown Health Policy Institute, Center on Health Insurance Reform; Stacy Cook, Carroll, Iowa; and Chris Carlson, Principal and Consulting Actuary, Oliver Wyman Consulting.

New Regs Released on ACA's $100 Billion Health Insurance Tax; Premiums to Rise

"A 2011 report by Oliver Wyman found that nationally the health insurance tax alone 'will increase premiums in the insured market on average by 1.9% to 2.3% in 2014,' and by 2023 'will increase premiums 2.8% to 3.7%.'"

CMS' Proposed Medicare Advantage Cuts Will Result in Higher Costs, Fewer Benefits for Seniors

"[A new analysis by Oliver Wyman prepared for America's Health Insurance Plans] estimates that the new proposed payment cuts combined with the reform law's payment cuts and taxes will result in benefit reductions and premium increases of an average $50 to $90 per month for a typical Medicare Advantage beneficiary next year.... CMS recently proposed a 2.3 percent reduction in Medicare Advantage payments for 2014 at a time when medical costs are projected to increase by three percent."