A Retrospective and Moving Forward

• The Academy’s 2013 Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon was held on Nov. 4 in conjunction with the 2013 CAS Annual Meeting. Outgoing 2013 Academy President Cecil Bykerk delivered his Farewell Address and incoming 2014 Academy President Tom Terry delivered his Inaugural Speech. Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, was honored with the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award; Ethan Kra was honored with the Jarvis Farley Service Award; and Anne Button, Audrey Halvorson, Geoffrey Hancock, David Ingram, and Joeff Williams, were honored with the 2013 Award for Outstanding Volunteerism. The Academy’s regular directors elected over the summer began their terms at the conclusion of the meeting. Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner delivered a captivating keynote speech addressing topics ranging from climate change to research challenging experts who claim to “predict” the future. Full coverage of the event will be in the next issue of the Actuarial Update later this month.

Message from Academy President Tom Terry

• Academy President Tom Terry announced the release of The Record, which highlights the Academy’s 2013 mission-critical achievements. Terry also announced that membership dues will remain the same for a third year in a row. Please check your inbox for Terry’s message and instructions on how to pay your dues online.

HPC Warns of Potential Consequences of Delaying ACA Individual Mandate, Extending Open Enrollment

• The Health Practice Council sent a letter to all members of Congress outlining potential adverse consequences of delaying the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate and/or extending its open enrollment period. Read the news release.

Academy Sends Letter to NAIC on Professionalism and U.S. Qualification Standards

• The Academy sent a letter to the NAIC endorsing the Committee on Qualifications’ interim response to the Society of Actuaries’ request for modification to the U.S. Qualification Standards and reiterating its commitment to work with the NAIC to ensure confidence in the definition of a “qualified” actuary to sign actuarial opinions.

News from Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline

• David F. Ogden, MAAA, FSA, has been appointed as the newest member of the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline. David is a health consultant with 35 years of experience in commercial, Medicare and Medicaid consulting. He has worked with health plans, providers, state Medicaid agencies, Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and insurance companies, and has significant experience working with Medicare Advantage and Part D plans.

Academy in the News

• The Academy Health Practice Council’s letter warning about the consequences of delaying the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate or open enrollment period received wide media coverage, including stories in The Washington Post, Fox News, The Hill, Politico, Bloomberg BNA’s health care blog, and other media outlets.
• Senior Pension Fellow Donald Fuerst provided insights into the elements of best-practice, risk-managed 401(k)/defined contribution plans for a MarketWatch column, “Put your 401(k) to the test.”

Public Policy Activities

• The Life Practice Council’s Principle-Based Reserves (PBR) Legislation-In-Brief was distributed to insurance legislators and top insurance regulators of each state where the NAIC model Standard Valuation Law may be considered in 2014. The brief is intended to inform legislators and policymakers of the importance of the new PBR methodology and the NAIC model Standard Valuation Law.
• The State Long-Term Care Task Force submitted a comment letter to the NAIC’s Long-Term Care Valuation Subgroup regarding proposed changes to the NAIC’s Health Insurance Reserves Model Regulation.

Opportunities to Learn and Earn CE

• New Professionalism Webinar: Dec. 3, Up to Code: Are You Keeping Up to Code? Are you as up to “code” as Da Vinci? Join us to hear Nancy Behrens and Janet Fagan, vice chairpersons of the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline, discuss important professionalism topics such as the importance of documenting your work, meeting CE requirements, avoiding strained interpretations of the Code of Professional Conduct and ASOPs, and other issues covered in recent “Up to Code” articles in Contingencies magazine. With more than two dozen archived articles, actuaries in all practice areas can benefit from an in-depth review of the best of “Up to Code.”
• Nov. 15, NAIC and Academy Update: Navigating the International and U.S. Regulatory Environment: The November 15 webinar will feature speakers from the NAIC and the Academy’s Financial Regulatory Reform Task Force. Presenters will highlight several insurance regulatory developments that are occurring at the state, federal, and international levels—a discussion of ComFrame, global systemically important financial institutions, Solvency Modernization Initiative, Own Risk Solvency Assessment (ORSA), and others. You’ll also receive an overview of many of the key regulatory organizations involved with implementing these regulatory changes.
• Nov. 19, The Practice of ERM in the Insurance Industry: Learn about ERM practices and how they are used day-to-day. The Academy’s Enterprise Risk Management Committee will outline an iterative framework to implement or enhance the ERM discipline within insurance companies. Presenters will elaborate on the definition, standards, regulations, and common aspects of ERM that are discussed in the July ERM practice note, “Insurance Enterprise Risk Management Practices.”

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