Announcements

• Academy President Tom Terry provided comments in a Jan. 21 letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Joint Qualified Actuary (JQA) subgroup regarding the definitions of qualified actuary for life, health, and property/casualty appointed actuaries signing annual statements. Academy Past President Cecil Bykerk addressed the importance of the MAAA to regulators as the only credential representing the U.S. national profession.
• If you haven’t renewed your membership for 2014, please do so by clicking here, to conveniently pay your dues. If you prefer, you may also log in to pay and make changes to your account. Thank you for your continued support of the Academy.

Academy in the News

• The Academy Health Practice Council’s fact sheet examining the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) three risk-sharing mechanisms was cited in a Wall Street Journal story and a TIME article examining the ACA’s risk corridor program.
• The Academy’s Retirement for the AGES initiative received broad media coverage, including stories in the Dallas Morning News, the Bankrate.com Retirement Blog, Pensions & Investments, PlanSponsor.com, and numerous other media outlets.
• Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello, who serves on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC), was quoted in a Modern Healthcare story and in a subscriber-only Bloomberg BNA story.

International Congress of Actuaries (ICA) Comes to the U.S. This Spring

• Supported by all five U.S.-based actuarial organizations, the ICA comes to the U.S. for the first time in over 50 years, bringing more than 100 sessions and offering up to 27 hours of CE. On March 31, join Jay Olshansky, professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois, for one of these 2014 ICA sessions, “The Longevity Dividend: Altering the Future Course of Health and Longevity?”. Now that living to 100 years and beyond doesn’t seem to be out of the question, can we all expect to live longer, or are there only subsets of the population that can expect such longevity? And what are the public policy implications for retirement and health care? Register and learn more about this and other sessions on the ICA website.

Opportunities to Learn

• “The Latest Findings on National Health Spending from CMS” will be the topic of an Academy webinar on Feb. 6. Lekha Whittle, economist in the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will discuss new analysis showing that the trend of lower growth rates in spending continued into 2012 with an increase in spending of only 3.7 percent to $2.8 trillion. Register online.
• The “Academy Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” lunchtime guest webinar series continues on Feb. 21 with “Monitoring Financial Stability at the OFR.” Rebecca McCaughrin, associate director with the Office of Financial Research (OFR) at the U.S. Treasury Department, will provide attendees with an overview of the OFR and its responsibilities; an examination of the recently released OFR annual report that focuses on the framework and tools for monitoring and assessing risks to financial stability; and a look at potential channels for transmitting various stress areas within the OFR. Register online.

News from the Actuarial Standards Board

• A new actuarial standard of practice (ASOP) was recently adopted by the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB). ASOP No. 48, Life Settlements Mortality, provides guidance to actuaries performing professional services reporting on or evaluating mortality experience with respect to life settlements or developing, analyzing, or using mortality assumptions with respect to life settlements. The effective date for ASOP No. 48 is April 30. Visit the ASB website to read the new ASOP.
• A revised version of ASOP No. 25, Credibility Procedures, has been adopted by the ASB. The effective date for the revised ASOP No. 25 is May 1. Visit the ASB website to read the revised ASOP.
• The ASB recently approved an exposure draft of a proposed standard, Medicaid Managed-Care Capitation Rate Development and Certification. The proposed ASOP will provide guidance to actuaries when performing professional services related to Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP or Title XXI) managed-care capitation rates. The comment deadline is May 15, 2014. Visit the ASB website to read the exposure draft.

Public Policy Activities

• In a Jan. 24 letter, the Academy Natural Catastrophe Subcommittee provided members of the U.S. Senate with an actuarial perspective on new legislation (S. 1926) that would further delay implementation of some Biggert-Waters flood insurance rate increases. The 2014 omnibus spending bill that was signed last week contained a provision imposing a one-year delay of some increases.
• The NAIC’s Health Actuarial Task Force has exposed the Academy Individual Disability Table Work Group’s proposed disability table, final instructions for utilizing the table, and final report, which includes an actuarial guideline and proposed changes to the Health Insurance Reserves Model Regulation. Log in to read the health alert.

Recent Events

• The Life Practice Council presented a webinar reviewing the NAIC Fall 2013 National Meeting and activities, including a rundown of the most recent Life Actuarial (A) Task Force meeting, a discussion of activities at the Life Risk-Based Capital (E) Working Group meeting, an update on VM-22 development, and a review of activity on captives and special purpose vehicles as they relate to NAIC model regulations XXX and AXXX. Download the webinar slides.

Recently Released Publications

• First Quarter Retirement Account: Read about the launch of the Academy’s Retirement for the AGES initiative, a recently released issue brief on measuring pension obligations, information on the EA meeting and EA renewals, and more.

Note: Some links in this email go to external websites and may require registration. The Academy is not responsible for the content of these websites. Links may expire.