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Financial & Trend

Age/Gender Risk Adjustment Engine

Normalize Healthcare Costs for Demographic Mix—Compare Young Tech Workforce to Aging Manufacturing Plant

The Demographic Distortion

Unadjusted Comparisons

  • Tech startup (avg age 28): $6K PMPY. Manufacturing (avg age 52): $11K PMPY. Which is well-managed?
  • Trend analysis contaminated by workforce aging, retirement waves, new hires
  • Cannot benchmark against industry peers with different age profiles
  • Gender mix ignored: female cohorts cost 30% more (pregnancy, preventive care)

Age/Gender Risk Adjustment

  • 5-year age band + gender risk factors: Male 50-54 = 1.82x baseline
  • Apples-to-apples: Tech $7.2K adjusted, Mfg $9.8K adjusted (both normalized to national avg age/gender mix)
  • Clean trend: workforce aging impact separated from utilization/pricing changes
  • Pregnancy cost isolation: childbearing-age female cohorts treated separately

Demographic Risk Scoring

python
# Age/Gender Risk Adjustment Model age_gender_factors = { 'M_0-4': 0.52, 'F_0-4': 0.48, 'M_5-9': 0.28, 'F_5-9': 0.26, 'M_10-14': 0.31, 'F_10-14': 0.35, 'M_15-19': 0.42, 'F_15-19': 0.58, 'M_20-24': 0.48, 'F_20-24': 0.91, # Female pregnancy costs 'M_25-29': 0.51, 'F_25-29': 1.12, 'M_30-34': 0.58, 'F_30-34': 1.24, 'M_35-39': 0.69, 'F_35-39': 1.18, 'M_40-44': 0.84, 'F_40-44': 1.08, 'M_45-49': 1.12, 'F_45-49': 1.22, 'M_50-54': 1.48, 'F_50-54': 1.42, 'M_55-59': 1.95, 'F_55-59': 1.78, 'M_60-64': 2.58, 'F_60-64': 2.24, 'M_65+': 3.12, 'F_65+': 2.88 } def calculate_risk_adjusted_costs(population): # Calculate Population Risk Score total_risk = 0 for member in population: age_band = get_age_band(member.age) gender = member.gender risk_factor = age_gender_factors[f'{gender}_{age_band}'] total_risk += risk_factor avg_risk = total_risk / len(population) # Risk-Adjust Actual Costs actual_costs_pmpy = calculate_total_costs(population) / len(population) risk_adjusted_costs = actual_costs_pmpy / avg_risk return { 'population_size': len(population), 'avg_age': calculate_avg_age(population), 'pct_female': calculate_female_pct(population), 'population_risk_score': avg_risk, 'actual_costs_pmpy': actual_costs_pmpy, 'risk_adjusted_costs_pmpy': risk_adjusted_costs } # Example: Two Populations # Tech Startup: # - Avg age: 28, 45% female # - Population risk score: 0.72 # - Actual PMPY: $6,000 # - Risk-adjusted PMPY: $8,333 ($6K / 0.72) # # Manufacturing: # - Avg age: 52, 25% female # - Population risk score: 1.55 # - Actual PMPY: $11,000 # - Risk-adjusted PMPY: $7,097 ($11K / 1.55) # # Conclusion: Manufacturing is MORE efficient when adjusted # for their older, higher-risk workforce

Demographic Intelligence

Risk Bands
14 x 2
14 age bands x 2 genders = 28 risk factors
Cost Variance
6.5x Range
Male 65+ costs 6.5x more than child under 10
Adjustment Precision
±2% PMPY
Accurate demographic normalization

Fair Performance Assessment

Startup vs. Legacy Comparison

  • SaaS company (avg age 29): $6.2K PMPY actual
  • Legacy manufacturer (avg age 53): $11.8K PMPY actual
  • After risk adjustment: SaaS $8.6K, Legacy $7.6K
  • Legacy is actually 12% MORE efficient
  • Focus improvement on SaaS health management

Workforce Aging Trend

  • 2023: Avg age 44, $9.2K PMPY
  • 2024: Avg age 46, $10.5K PMPY (+14% raw trend)
  • 2023 risk-adjusted: $9.4K, 2024 risk-adjusted: $9.8K
  • True trend: +4.3% (not +14%)
  • 10% of apparent trend was just workforce aging

Pregnancy Cost Isolation

  • Female 25-34 cohort: $14.5K PMPY (high pregnancy costs)
  • Separated pregnancy costs: $3.2K PMPY avg
  • Non-pregnancy costs: $11.3K PMPY
  • Benchmark female 25-34 non-pregnancy: $11.8K
  • Actually 4% below benchmark for non-maternity care

Stop Penalizing Employers for Their Demographics

Adjust for age/gender mix using 28-factor risk model. Compare apples-to-apples across different workforce profiles. Separate aging from performance.

Risk-Adjust Costs