Creating and Sharing Improved Tools for Policymakers to Assess Risk Adjustment Approaches

How can policymakers best learn about and assess risk adjustment methods? The researchers will create an on-line, interactive tool for policymakers to learn about their risk adjustment options. The website will provide explanations of summary statistics and definitions of risk selection behaviors. In addition, policymakers will be able to create scenarios in which they vary the health plan data required, the risk adjustment model, whether the risk adjustment is prospective or concurrent, whether reinsurance is part of the strategy, and whether risk adjustment is passed through to medical groups. By simulating real world selection behavior under a variety of assumptions about incentives to adopt different selection strategies, policymakers can better understand the likely behavioral responses to choosing one risk adjustment approach versus another. The objective of the project is to provide readily accessible information, in a policy context, that will permit policymakers to develop a better understanding of risk selection and the need for risk adjustment.