Announcements

• Happy Holiday from the American Academy of Actuaries! In lieu of postage to mail holiday cards, the Academy has made a donation to So Others Might Eat on behalf of its membership and staff.
• Membership dues payment is due Jan. 1, 2012. 2012 membership dues remain at the same level as 2011. If you haven’t paid your 2012 dues, click here to conveniently pay online before Jan. 1. Now is also a good time to ensure your member profile is up to date, make any necessary changes, and sign up for Academy alerts—timely online bulletins about legislative and regulatory developments that keep members informed. Log in now to pay your dues, print your invoice, or to update your profile.

Website: New Postings

• Sample slide decks on Medicare’s financial condition—the first topic to be addressed in the Academy’s 2012 Election Toolkit series—are now available with and without speaker notes. The slide decks include an overview of the structure of Medicare, the challenges to the program’s solvency and sustainability, and options that have been proposed to reform the program. You can download these files here:
• Sample slide deck without speaker notes: A Guide to Medicare’s Financial Challenges and Options for Improvement
• Sample slide deck with speaker notes: A Guide to Medicare’s Financial Challenges and Options for Improvement
• The International Accounting Standards Task Force submitted to the International Accounting Standards Board a white paper on what belongs in “other comprehensive income” and a discussion paper on the approaches to setting the discount rate for valuation of insurance contracts.
• The Financial Regulatory Reform Task Force responded to the Federal Insurance Office on how to modernize and improve the U.S. system of insurance regulation.
• Life Practice Council Chairperson Cande Olsen made a presentation to the NAIC’s  Contingent Deferred Annuity (A) Subgroup on the Academy’s Contingent Annuity Work Group’s report that was submitted to the NAIC on October 28.
• The American Academy of Actuaries International Accounting Standards Task Force submitted comments to the IASB on the topic of defining the contract boundary for insurance contracts.
• The Financial Regulatory Reform Task Force provided comments to the Financial Stability Oversight Council on its proposed rule relating to systemically important financial institutions.

Recently Released Publications

• Read the winter issue of the Enrolled Actuaries Report to learn about the Government Accounting Standards Board’s proposed new regulations for economic condition reporting in financial documents. This issue also includes the 2012 Covered Compensation tables and 2012 IRS Pension limits and a preview of the 2012 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting.
• The December Actuarial Update features profiles of incoming ABCD Chairperson Paul Fleischacker and incoming ASB Chairperson Robert Meilander. Other newsletter highlights include a look at the December Professionalism webinar on international issues and the new online 2012 election toolkits.
• Read the December issue of HealthCheck to learn about the regulatory approach the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to propose in defining essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act. This issue also looks at the HHS’ final rules regarding the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan program and medical loss ratio requirements for health insurers.

Publication Note

• This Week will not publish next Friday, Dec. 30. This Week will resume publication after the New Year on Friday, Jan. 6.

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