Review of Health Canada’s (HC) Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program’s Short, Medium and Long-Term Expenditures Forecasting Methodologies.

The key objectives of this professional service contract are to strengthen HC’s ability to

forecast NIHB program expenditures in the short (initial year), medium (next 2-5 years) and long-term (5 + years) with an industry standard level of accuracy; effectively identify changes in future year benefit utilization; predict expenditures and program impact with an industry standard level of accuracy (such as treatment for Hepatitis C); and forecast program funding requirements in the short, medium and long-term. ,

To achieve these objectives, the contractor will be required to review existing forecasting practices for NIHB to identify and propose models and methodologies that will assist HC to address all key cost drivers impacting accurate expenditure forecasting, such as external factors including client base, market forces, and clinical evidence. The contractor will ultimately be required to provide assurance that the model (existing and with proposed enhancements) is sound, that no major gaps or deficiencies exists, that it produces a reasonably good forecast of year end expenditures and the methodologies used follow good industry forecasting practices.