Assistant Vice President, AON CONSULTING & INSURANCE SERVICES
Member of the Insurance Council
Michael Berman is the Assistant Vice President at Aon Consulting. He is an experienced group health actuary with over 10 years of broad insurance and consulting experience. Mr. Berman has extensive expertise in the areas of pharmacy, medical, and disability products. His consulting experience has been focused on meeting the group benefits needs of large employer groups: consulting engagements has been in the areas of pricing, plan design, and vendor bidding and selection. Mr. Berman is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. (This is me - Update Profile)
Opinions and analyses expressed in GLG News are solely those of the author. See the Terms of Use for details.
Medical Tourism Has Price Transparency - The United States Has Opaque Pricing
September 7, 2007
American's Gamble for Bargain Surgery Abroad | www.medpagetoday.com
The United States has very limited price transparency for medical providers and facilities. The lack of price transparency artificially raises costs in the United States because there is very little price competition for services. This is true even in areas where there is excess capacity.
Transparency to the Client is Paramount
July 24, 2007
Insurance brokers reconsider taking insurer commissions | www.marketwatch.com
Contingent commissions, if not disclosed, can result in brokerage clients not knowing how much they are paying for the services they receive from their risk brokers. A commission should be viewed as just an alternative to fee-based consulting. In theory the amount of commissions received should equal fees a client is willing to pay as commissions are built into insurance premiums.
You Need to Consider Drug Mix and Plan Design
May 29, 2007
Comparison of Mail Order with community Pharmacy Cost | www.amcp.org
It is universal that the mail order distribution channel has lower generic utilization than the retail channel. PBM pricing is always better for mail order scripts versus retail. In addition, plan design is a major component of net claim costs.
Quality and Service Will Suffer With Outsourcing
May 28, 2007
Insurance Outsourcing Focuses on India | www.insurancejournal.com
Outsourcing won't work well until the Indian outsourcing firms develop the core competencies of key insurance operations.
Is PBM Transparency a Good Thing?
December 4, 2006
PBM transparency: More than meets the eye | www.benefitnews.com
This article discusses transparency in the context of retail pharmacies; however, PBMs are most profitable in the mail order distribution channel.
Transparent PBM deals have more guarantees than implied by this article.
| Study Group Name | No. Members |
|---|---|
| Experts in the Leisure & Lodging Council | 4887 |
| Experts in the Automotive Council | 3422 |
| Life & Health Insurance Experts | 1523 |
| Economic Experts on Managed Care | 714 |
| Managed Care Experts | 669 |
Michael Berman has not participated in any GLG Live Meetings.