Unless you’re intellectually bleached, actuary work in forecasting medical trends and rating basis is not rocket science. Manipulation of value parameters is made easier with a Dial A Matic.
Always be prepared for your client to ask “How do we know we are doing much better this year than last year?”
You should reply by saying “What is this year is last year plus or minus this year’s change.”
You may get this response, so be especially prepared for it: “But how do you know something is better if you did not know how to measure what it was before? And if change is the only constant why do we need to measure it?”
That’s when you should reach for the Dial A Matic, murmur unintelligible actuarial terms while fidgeting with the dials as you walk away in slow haste. You certainly don’t want to violate your actuarial standards faster than you can lower them.
