SCHAUMBURG, Ill., April 12, 2016 -- The Society of Actuaries (SOA) today announced a new relationship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that brings actuarial science to public health practice as part of the CDC's 6|18 initiative. Insights from actuarial science will help further understanding of healthcare cost savings that can be achieved through evidence-based prevention.

Specifically for the 6|18 initiative, the SOA will help the CDC and its partners better understand the cost saving opportunities of six common and expensive health issues – tobacco use, high blood pressure, healthcare-associated infections, asthma, unintended pregnancies, and diabetes -- and 18 proven health interventions related to those issues. The SOA will also help the CDC understand how aspects of the insurance process, such as provider contracting, benefit provisions, managed care agreements, and payer-based care management could affect or interact with the interventions.

"In support of this relationship, the SOA has the opportunity to help solve some of the toughest and most costly population health challenges facing our country today," said Rebecca Owen, FSA, MAAA and health research actuary. "As pioneers in data analysis, actuaries bring the unique ability to help identify cost savings for public health interventions and to determine how payers can allocate funding to successfully implement them."

SOA volunteers and members of the organization's health section and research group will lend their actuarial skills and consult with the CDC on population health issues.  

"We are pleased to begin this new relationship," says Laura Seeff, MD, Director of the CDC's Office of Health Systems Collaboration. "Public-private partnerships can magnify our ability to address complicated public health problems, and we are excited to explore this opportunity with the Society of Actuaries."

About the Society of Actuaries
With roots dating back to 1889, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) is the world's largest actuarial organization with more than 26,000 members. Through research and education, the SOA's mission is to advance actuarial knowledge and to enhance the ability of actuaries to provide expert advice and relevant solutions for financial, business and societal challenges. The SOA's vision is for actuaries to be the leading professionals in the measurement and management of risk. www.soa.org

About the CDC
CDC works 24/7 saving lives, protecting people from health threats, and saving money through prevention. Whether these threats are global or domestic, chronic or acute, curable or preventable, natural disaster or deliberate attack, CDC is the nation's health protection agency.