Private health insurance is a dynamic industry in a growing sector of the economy and the past decade has witnessed a wave of reforms. With the requirement for all insurers to have an Appointed Actuary, and introduction of the Actuarial Advice Framework, actuaries are holding key statutory roles in the financial condition and overall risk management of private health insurers. Other health insurance practitioners also provide critical information and analysis in the successful operation of the insurers.
With the support of the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA), we have developed the Private Health Insurance eLearning Course that will equip actuaries, their technical staff, senior management and directors who have an interest in health insurance with the necessary knowledge and skills to understand the specific conduct and operations of private health insurance in Australia.
Who should enrol?
The course incorporates changes to legislation, professional standards, industry activity and health reform and has been written in a way that also makes it valuable for other health insurance practitioners including financial staff, general management and Board members.
Course outline
The course is a self-paced study program comprised of six topics:
- The Environment and Regulation
- Operations and Data
- The Role of the Actuary
- Product Design and Pricing
- Capital Management
- Major Transactions for Private Health Insurers
A detailed course outline and demonstration are available.
Enrolment
The course fee is AUD $810 (for members) and $972 (for non-members).
The course utilises the Institute's Learning Management System, making the course highly accessible. Participants can enrol in the course at any time. Please enrol online here.
Login details for the Institute's Learning Management System will be issued once the application has been processed.
Assessment
Participants have nine months to complete the course assessment, which has two levels:
Topic by Topic Assessment
Topic by Topic Assessment allows participants to check their progression at the end of each topic by completing a critical thinking task available at the end of the topic notes.
Participants are presented with five to eight critical thinking questions in the online Learning Management System. Participants are required to submit their best attempt as a short written answer, before receiving model solutions to self check their work.
Topic by Topic Assessments do not have any formal assessment weighting, but may be referenced in situations where a borderline Final Assessment has been submitted to determine the level of understanding that a participant has achieved. Participants who successfully complete the course on their first attempt will not receive personalised feedback on their Topic by Topic Assessments.
Final Assessment
The Final Assessment consists of seven short-answer critical thinking questions randomly selected from a databank of three questions per topic.
There is no time limit and participants may use external reference material, however participants will only be allowed two attempts to successfully complete the Final Assessment.
Results
Responses to the Final Assessment will be reviewed within four weeks of submission.
If responses are satisfactory, the participant will be allocated a ‘Pass’ grade.
If responses are not satisfactory, participants will be given personalised feedback on their performance in the Topic by Topic Assessments and advised to review sections of the course before reattempting the Final Assessment. Participants will then receive access to the course for another four weeks (dated from the receipt of feedback) to reattempt their Final Assessment. Participants will not be presented with the same questions on their second attempt. The second attempt is final.
Certificate
A certificate will be awarded upon successful completion of the final assessment.