AHM-520 Health Plan Finance and Risk Management Question and Answers

With regard to alternative funding arrangements, the part of a health plan premium that is intended to contribute to the claims reserve that a health plan maintains to pay for unusually high utilization is known as the:

The goal of the investment department at the Wayfarer Health Plan is to maximize investment return. The investment department executes investments on time and at a low cost. However, these transactions often result in low returns or risks that are deemed too high for Wayfarer. With regard to effectiveness and efficiency, it is correct to say that Wayfarer’s investment department is:

Mandated benefit laws are state or federal laws that require health plans to arrange for the financing and delivery of particular benefits. Ways that mandated benefits have the potential to influence health plans include:

1. Causing a lower degree of uniformity among health plans of competing health plans in a given market

2. Increasing the cost of the benefit plan to the extent that the plan must cover mandated benefits that would not have been included in the plan in the absence of the law or regulation that mandates the benefits

The Fairway health plan is a for-profit health plan that issues stock. The following data was taken from Fairway's financial statements:

Current assets.....$5,000,000

Total assets.....6,000,000

Current liabilities.....2,500,000

Total liabilities.....3,600,000

Stockholders' equity.....2,400,000

Fairway's total revenues for the previous financial period were $7,200,000, and its net income for that period was $180,000.

From this data, Fairway can determine both its current ratio and its net working capital. Fairway would correctly determine that its

The following statements are about the capital budgeting technique known as the payback method. Select the answer choice containing the correct statement:

The Puma health plan uses return on investment (ROI) and residual income (RI) to measure the performance of its investment centers. Two of these investment centers are identified as X and Y. Investment Center X earns $10,000,000 in operating income on controllable investments of $50,000,000, and it has total revenues of $60,000,000. Investment Center Y earns $2,000,000 in operating income on controllable investments of $8,000,000, and it has total revenues of $10,000,000. Both centers have a minimum required rate of return of 15%.

One likely way in which Investment Center X or Y could effectively increase its ROI is by

The Jade Health Plan used a profitability index (PI) to rank the following capital proposals:

Proposal PI

A0.45

B1.05

This information indicates that, of these two projects, Jade would most likely select:

The goals of Diane Tsai, the manager of the Oval Health Plan's accounting department, and the goals of Oval are mutually supportive. Oval's accounting department is able to establish and achieve the appropriate objectives, but the department's costs of operation are too high. The following statement(s) can correctly be made about this situation:

The Raven Health Plan is domiciled in a state that requires the health plan to offer small employers and their employees a comprehensive healthcare benefit plan that approximates the healthcare benefits available to large employer-employee groups. This type of uniform benefit plan is known as:

The medical loss ratio (MLR) for the Peacock health plan is 80%. Peacock's expense ratio is 16%.

Peacock's MLR and its expense ratio indicate that Peacock

The Jamal Health Plan operates in a state that mandates that a health plan either allow providers to become part of its network or reimburse those providers at the health plan’s negotiated-contract rate, so long as the non-contract provider is willing to perform the services at the contract rate. This type of law is known as:

The Proform Health Plan uses agents to market its small group business. Proform capitalizes the commission expense relating to this line of business by spreading the commissions over the premium-paying period of the healthcare coverage. This approach to expense recognition is known as:

One true statement about variance analysis is that

Over time, health plans and their underwriters have gathered increasingly reliable information about the morbidity experience of small groups.

Generally, in comparison to large groups, small groups tend to

A stop-loss contract may provide that claims are settled using a paid claims method or an incurred claims method. The Concord Company provides health coverage to its employees through a self-funded health plan. On March 17, a Concord employee who is enrolled in this plan underwent surgery, and the surgery was sufficiently expensive to trigger Concord's specific stop-loss coverage. On April 10, Concord paid the medical expenses associated with the surgery. The term of the stop-loss contract ended on April 1. This information indicates that the stop-loss carrier is responsible for paying a portion of the cost of the surgery under

The Caribou health plan is a for-profit organization. The financial statements that Caribou prepares include balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. To prepare its cash flow statement, Caribou begins with the net income figure as reported on its income statement and then reconciles this amount to operating cash flows through a series of adjustments. Changes in Caribou's cash flow occur as a result of the health plan's operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities.

To prepare its cash flow statement, Caribou uses the direct method rather than the indirect method.

If Grace Wilson is eligible for benefits under both the Medicare and Medicaid programs, then

Under the doctrine of corporate negligence, a health plan and its physician administrators may be held directly liable to patients or providers for failing to investigate adequately the competence of healthcare providers whom it employs or with whom it contracts, particularly where the health plan actually provides healthcare services or restricts the patient's/enrollee's choice of physician.

With regard to the financial statements prepared by health plans, it can correctly be stated that

The Violin Company offers its employees a triple option of health plans: an HMO, an HMO with a point of service (POS) option, and an indemnity plan.

Premiums are lowest for the HMO option and highest for the indemnity plan. Violin employees who anticipate that they will be individual low utilizes of healthcare services are most likely to enroll in the

The Brookhaven Company is the parent company of two subsidiaries: an HMO and an insurance company. The headings on Brookhaven's financial statements read "Consolidated Financial Statements of Brookhaven Company." From the following answer choices, select the response that correctly indicates, under the entity concept, whether the HMO and the insurance company are accounted for as separate entities and whether the subsidiaries' financial results would be included in Brookhaven's consolidated financial statements.

The Atoll Health Plan must comply with a number of laws that directly affect the plan's contracts. One of these laws allows Atoll's plan members to receive medical services from certain specialists without first being referred to those specialists by a primary care provider (PCP). This law, which reduces the PCP's ability to manage utilization of these specialists, is known as _________.

The methods of alternative funding for health coverage can be divided into the following general categories:

• Category A—Those methods that primarily modify traditional fully insured group insurance contracts
• Category B—Those methods that have either partial or total self funding

Typically, small employers are able to use some of the alternative funding methods in

Experience rating and manual rating are two rating methods that the Cheshire health plan uses to determine its premium rates. One difference between these two methods is that, under experience rating, Cheshire

Provider reimbursement methods that transfer some utilization risk from a health plan to providers affect the health plan's RBC formula. A health plan's use of these reimbursement methods is likely to result in

The following statement(s) can correctly be made about a health plan's underwriting of small groups:

If the Ascot health plan's accountants follow the going-concern concept under GAAP, then these accountants most likely

The following paragraph contains an incomplete statement. Select the answer choice containing the term that correctly completes the statement. Health plans face four contingency risks (C-risks): asset risk (C-1), pricing risk (C-2), interest-rate risk (C-3), and general management risk (C-4). Of these risks, ________________ is typically the most important risk that health plans face. This is true because a sizable portion of the total expenses and liabilities faced by a health plan come from contractual obligations to pay for future medical costs, and the exact amount of these costs is not known when the healthcare coverage is priced.

The provider contract that Dr. Timothy Meyer, a pediatrician, has with the Cardigan health plan states that Cardigan will compensate him under a capitation arrangement. However, the contract also includes a typical low enrollment guarantee provision. Statements that can correctly be made about this arrangement include that the low enrollment guarantee provision most likely: