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
Provision in corporate life insurance policies that allows coverage to be transferred to a new individual with proof of insurability, for a premium appropriate to the age of the new ...
Coverage on an all risks basis through an endorsement to a business property insurance policy in which each sign is specifically scheduled, subject to the exclusions of wear and tear, and ...
Personal view regarding how losses occur and the validity of loss prevention and reduction; also, whether an individual is a risk taker or a risk avoider. For example, if a driver takes the ...
Coverage under which the face value, premiums, and plan of insurance can be changed at the discretion of the policy owner in the following manner, without additional policies being issued: ...
Important means of preventing accidents and injuries. Insurers take corporate safety programs into account when rating workers compensation and other business insurance policies. ...
Insurance company's net gain from operations divided by its adjusted surplus. This is the accounting rate of return on stockholder's equity since the ratio shows the rate of return the ...
Property or liability coverage that provides benefits (usually after a deductible has been paid by an insured) up to the limits of a policy, regardless of other insurance polices in effect. ...
The open perils policy is the counterpart to the named perils policy. In it, any peril NOT mentioned is covered by the policy. Here's an example: let's say you got an open perils policy ...
Scheme to recapture excess pension assets by splitting a qualified plan in two, and terminating one of them. In the mid-1980s, many pension plans became "overfunded" because their ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.