The benefits auditor and the detective

As health care grows more complex, the ability to discover overpayments has grown equally challenging. Given the high cost of health care and the expected annual trend of approximately 15% for the next several years, stopping profit losses is critical in any organization.     

Optimal replication of contingent claims under portfolio constraints

We determine the minimum cost of super-replicating a nonnegativecontingent claim when there are convex constraints on portfolioweights. We show that the optimal cost with constraints is equalto the price of a related claim without constraints. The relatedclaim is a dominating claim, that is, a claim whose payoffsare increased in an appropriate way relative to the originalclaim. The results hold for a variety of options, includingsome path-dependent options. Constraints on the gamma of thereplicating portfolio, constraints on the portfolio amounts,and constraints on the number of shares are also considered.     

HR customer service--FedEx.com or BUST!

As the "customers" of the benefits department, employees, beneficiaries and retirees deserve best practice service delivery. This article describes a benefits administration operating model that can deliver high levels of customer service by furnishing accurate, consistent and timely information. Performance measurement is a key element in this type of customer satisfaction, particularly when outsourcing vendors are involved in the provision of benefits.