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
Form of insurance that insurance companies buy for their own protection, "a sharing of insurance." An insurer (the reinsured) reduces its possible maximum loss on either an individual risk ...
Table charting relative costs of a group of cash value life insurance policies derived by using the net cost method of comparing costs (traditional net cost method of comparing costs; net ...
Rule concerning stock sold and then repurchased or a similar security repurchased (warrants or options) within 30 full days before or after the day of the sale. Losses established from such ...
Employee's right to transfer pension benefit credits from a former employer to a current employer. ...
Same as term Corridor Deductible: type of major medical deductible amount that acts as a corridor between benefits under a basic health insurance plan and benefits under a major medical ...
Group that advises on employee benefit plans as to amount of benefits to be paid, how benefits are to be financed, and how employees are to qualify for benefits (vesting requirements). An ...
Analytical procedure to predict the failure rate of a system still in the design stage. ...
Provision commonly found in fire insurance contracts. If the insured knows that a hazard is increased, most property contracts permit the insurance company to suspend or terminate coverage. ...
Total limit on the amount of coverage an insurer will underwrite on an individual risk. The amount underwritten includes the amount to be ceded through a reinsurance agreement. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.