Background Sleep apnea (SA) is common in late life and has received much attention as a possible risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, cross-sectional findings suggest little, if any, relationship between SA impaired cognition Apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE4) allele carriers non-carriers. Preclinical AD detection essential, the SA, APOE4, cognitive impairment merits further analysis lar...

For the past three years, the Affordable Care Act has required health insurers to pay out a minimum percentage of premiums in medical claims or quality improvement expenses--known as a medical loss ratio (MLR). Insurers with MLRs below the minimum must rebate the difference to consumers. This issue brief finds that total rebates for 2013 were $325 million, less than one-third the amount paid ou...

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of race and having an asthma management plan on the impact of experiencing asthmatic episodes. METHODS This study utilized the 2002 and 2003 National Health Interview Survey to conduct a retrospective study and secondary data analysis. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis was performed to examine physician asthma management plan recommendations a...

Insurance is referred to as probabilistic when policyholders are exposed to contract nonperformance risk, that is, claims are not reimbursed by the insurer. We extend probabilistic insurance models to allow for ambiguity regarding contract nonperformance and loss probabilities. We empirically test theoretical predictions from our model within a field lab experiment in a low-income setting. This...

This paper analyzes the effects of additional information in a life insurance market under adverse selection. Individuals have an incentive to acquire information about their risk type if their informational status cannot be observed by insurers. In aggregate, however, the existence of a testing opportunity has an effect on the equilibrium premium. We describe the conditions under which, from a...

......................................................... ..2 00 INTRODUCTION........................................................20 1 REVIEW OF 1979 INDUSTRY STUDY. ................................... ,204 Driver Record Data Calculated for Three Model Groups ..................... 205 Driver Record: Discounts/Surcharges vs. Accident Differences ............... ,208 Exposure Period Measured i...

In the absence of a perfect risk adjustment scheme, reimbursing health insurers' costs can reduce risk selection in community-rated health insurance markets. In this paper, we develop a model in which insurers determine the cost efficiency of health care and have incentives for risk selection. We derive the optimal cost reimbursement function, which balances the incentives for cost efficiency a...

291 Dynamic Financial Modeling-Issues and Approaches Daykin, Pentikainen, and Pesonen (as well as other authors) have described the elements that can comprise a dynamic financial model of a property/casualty insurer and have discussed options for several important elements where different approaches are reasonable. This paper further describes the issues which arise in designing and implementin...

I use the health care industry as a novel laboratory in which to study a firm’s strategic use of debt to enhance their bargaining power during negotiations with non-financial stakeholders. I show that reimbursement rates negotiated between a hospital and insurers for a specific procedure are higher when the hospital has more debt. I also show that this effect is stronger when hospitals have les...