SA1 topical issues (updated 11 Feb 2025)

[Steve McIntosh]

It is important that Subject SA1 students take the opportunity to keep abreast of current developments in health and care insurance. Some exam questions are likely to cover topical issues that are not covered explicitly by the Course Notes alone.

The purpose of this thread is for Subject SA1 students to discuss topical issues on health and care insurance. Feel free to add your own comments about topical issues.

 

[Jinal]

Here is the 2017 topical issues document.

Sarah

Do we, by any chance, have any material around use to telematics for pricing??
Loads of data can be collected through fitness bands (relevant for health insurance) but practically how do we convert data to impact pricing and its limitations, etc

 

[Sarah Byrne]

There was an event at the IFoA last June which had a couple of papers on the use of devices:
https://www.actuaries.org.uk/learn-and-develop/conference-paper-archive/2016

Scroll down and select 'Hot Topics in Health and Care: Networking Event'. Hopefully you can access the files without having attended the event.

I'm not sure it answers your specific questions but you might find it interesting. There is only one of the papers here, there was another one presented by Discovery from South Africa about the use of wearable technology (which I think it what you're more interested in). As I say, the slides/paper don't appear to be on the website but here are my notes from the meeting:

Discussed activity trackers mainly but also suggested use of other sources of data such as glucose levels and diabetes monitoring.

Uses – allows more granular risk classification, improves underwriting and reduces underwriting resources, can offer premium reductions to “better” lives (positive selective effect, reduced anti-selection), can engage with higher risk lives and help manage risk via wearable tech, for PMI it could improve the quality of care and ensure it’s appropriate and for IP it could increase employee activity and help manage claims

Risks – takes time to analyse data, often self-measures (so rely on truth being reported), measurements can be manipulated (eg put the pedometer on the dog), policyholders need to opt-in, questions of accuracy, data privacy

This is all the information I have but I hope it helps.

Sarah

 

[Jinal]

Hi Sarah,

Thank you very much.

Both, the topics and your notes, were helpful and interesting to read.

Thanks again.

 

[Amit_P]

What Example papers do you recommend for April 2022 exam?

 

[Sarah Byrne]

Hi Amit

We would recommend doing as many past papers as you can. But you could concentrate on the papers since the syllabus change (so 2019, 2020 and 2021) as these are likely to be most reflective of the April 2022 exam style. I would then suggest 'topping up' with questions on topics you find trickier either using the question log or attempting some of the end of chapter or assignment questions.

Remember that past papers won't test every topic, so make sure you go back through the Course Notes before the exam to check you have a good knowledge of the whole course.

Sarah

 

[Mark Willder]

Here is the latest SA1 topical issues document for the 2023 exams. As ever, this is not intended to be a full list of every area, but it should provide areas you may want to consider in more detail and perhaps carry out some additional reading around.

 

[Amrit Sanghera]

Is there an updated version of this for 2024 by any chance? Thanks

 

[Sarah Byrne]

Here is the latest SA1 topical issues document for the 2024 exams. The intention of this document is to encourage you to read around the subject and spend time considering the impact of various issues on the health and care insurance market. It is not intended to cover all possible areas and you are encouraged to identify other areas as part of your preparations for the exam.

 

[Amrit Sanghera]

Thanks Sarah!

 

[Sarah Byrne]

Here is the most recent topical issues for the 2025 exams. The intention of this document is to encourage you to read around the subject and spend time considering the impact of various issues on the health and care insurance market. It is not intended to cover all possible areas and you are encouraged to identify other areas as part of your preparations for the exam.