Health Care Cost Trends Request for Proposal – Risk Adjustment
Health Care Cost Trends Request for Proposal – Risk Adjustment supports researchers studying health insurance risk adjustment methods and challenges to inform practicing health actuaries.
Funder: Society of Actuaries
Due Dates: October 12, 2026 (Expression of interest) | October 30, 2026 (Proposal)
Funding Amounts: Historical contracted-project costs: $25,000–$50,000 (33rd–66th percentile); not an award range
Summary: Supports research on health insurance risk adjustment methods and challenges for practicing health actuaries.
Key Information: Proposals are limited to five pages, excluding researcher resumes.
Description
The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Health Care Cost Trends Strategic Research Committee seeks an updated examination of risk adjustment in health insurance. Risk adjustment aims to reduce risk selection by reflecting differences in members’ expected risk in payments or premiums, particularly where underwriting is prohibited and rating factors are restricted. Existing methods do not perfectly predict future costs or fully account for expected cost differences.
The committee seeks cross-disciplinary research that builds on the Institute’s earlier work. Possible topics include the effectiveness of current methods, proposed updates, and the integration of artificial intelligence. Findings should be relevant to practicing health actuaries and explain the analysis’s data, methods, assumptions, limitations, and practical implications.
