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
HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION that restricts to a relatively small amount the number of medical providers from which an HMO member may seek services. Usually, HMO members may select the ...
Information generated by the medical information bureau (MIB) and made available to member companies concerning medical information of applicants for life and health insurance. Member ...
Coverage in which the face amount of a life insurance policy declines by a stipulated amount over a period of time. For example, the initial face amount of a $100,000 decreasing term policy ...
Picture of future dividends that the insurance company expects to be allocated to a specific block of policies. The accuracy of this picture depends on the actual future mortality, ...
Income payments that are calculated based on the annuitant's life expectancy and adjusted to reflect the annuitant's medical circumstance. For example, a person age 63 may have a medical ...
Insurance company's reinsurance commissions and expense allowances divided by its adjusted surplus account. The smaller this ratio, the more financially sound the insurance company, since ...
Basic group disability insurance policy for all employees purchased by the employer. In addition, the employer usually purchases an individual disability policy for key executives. ...
Maximum amount that an insurance company is obligated to pay all injured parties seeking recourse as the result of the occurrence of an event covered under a liability insurance pol ...
Form of marine insurance that covers mobile equipment of a contractor, including road building machinery, steam shovels, hoists, and derricks used on the job by builders of structures, ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.