It’s often a guessing game estimating the impact of cost sharing changes on the federal actuarial values for individual and small group plans as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Issuers need a reference of actuarial value (AV) impacts driven by cost sharing changes in sample standard plans for their product portfolio strategy. In this paper, we discuss the following:

• The AV Calculator (AVC) tool offered by the Department of Health and Human Services
• AVC sensitivity analysis, strategy, and limitations
• Tables showing changes in deductible applicability, coinsurance applicability, copay amounts, and deductible and out-of-pocket maximum amounts