Trend analysis is not just a number-crunching exercise. Medical trend estimation is a complicated process, especially since passage of the Affordable Care Act. I teamed up with colleague Josh Hammerquist for this article in The Actuary, which describes new methods that can produce a clearer picture of what might happen in the future. Read it here.

What can we do about the seemingly intractable problem of health care costs? The U.S. spends roughly 18% of its GDP on health care while the rest of the developed world spends about 11%. Two unbiased, nonpartisan organizations have come together to draw on the expertise of 30 thought leaders and identify concrete steps to contain costs. Read about Initiative 18|11 here.