Health Insurance Futures
Definition of "Health insurance futures"
One-year futures contract (standardized agreement between two parties to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument on an organized futures exchange such as the CBOT within some future time period at a present stipulated price), traded at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), which would allow health insurance companies and self-insured employers to hedge their losses. The essential design of this contract is such that when actual claims exceed expected claims by amount "X," the futures contract would increase by the same amount "X." The financial instrument that forms the basis of this futures contract is an index that reflects the claims experience of ten health insurance companies. By buying futures contracts that will appreciate in the future as claims increase in the future, insurance companies and self-insured employers can profit from increasing futures prices through which they can offset their losses. Accordingly, by selling futures contracts that will decline in the future, these organizations can profit from decreasing futures prices that can be used to offset smaller cash flow. For example, if a health insurance company buys a futures contract for $40,000 and then sells it for $50,000, the company will recognize a profit of $10,000, which can be used to pay the higher than expected claims incurred. The cost effectiveness of hedging through the buying and selling of futures contracts depends on high correlations between expected claims payments and the futures contracts prices. If there is a low correlation between expected claims payments and the futures contracts prices, the less cost effective the hedge becomes. Thus, it is critical for the insurance company or the self-insured employer to establish the correlation between its block of business and the health insurance futures index.
Popular Insurance Terms
Insurance that acts as a supplement to medicare in that it will pay the deductibles and coinsurance sums that the Medicare recipient is responsible for paying. In addition, some policies ...
The definition of contract of adhesion or, as it is also known, an adhesion contract is explained as an agreement between two parties where one party has more power than the other when the ...
Same as term Deposit Term Life Insurance: policy in which a premium (the deposit) is paid in the first policy year, in addition to the regular term insurance premiums required. The deposit ...
Entitlement of a pension plan participant (employee) to receive full benefits at normal retirement age, or a reduced benefit upon early retirement, whether or not the participant still ...
Information needed for underwriting a life insurance policy, such as an applicant's age, weight, height, and build; personal and family health record; occupation; and personal habits. These ...
Method whereby an insurer pays the amount of each claim for each risk up to a limit determined in advance and the reinsurer pays the amount of the claim above that limit up to a specific ...
Type of coverage of property owned by one person at several locations, including merchandise, materials, fixtures, furniture, specified machinery, betterments, and improvements made by ...
Effective January 4, 1994, the backup withholding rate on dividends, interest, and gross proceeds distributions increased from 20% to 31%. Backup withholding applies in the following ...
Section of the code that qualifies that the death benefit paid under a life insurance policy is received by the beneficiary income-tax free. These tax consequences apply regardless of the ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.