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Recent Academy Activity, Feb. 10–14, 2014

Opportunities to Learn

  • The “Academy Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” lunchtime guest webinar series continues next week 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 be the guest speaker for this Feb. 21 program. It will provide 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.

International Congress of Actuaries (ICA): This Week’s Spotlighted Session— Professionalism

  • This diverse meeting comes to the United States for the first time in over 50 years, bringing more than 100 sessions and offering up to 27 hours of continuing education in the nation’s capital. Attendees will have two opportunities to participate in an interactive session examining challenges to balancing their responsibilities to the corporate world, the public, and the profession. On April 1 and 3, Ken Hohman, the Academy’s International Secretary, Ken Kent, a member of the Academy’s Council on Professionalism, Sheila Kalkunte, the Academy’s assistant general counsel, and Luc Noubissi, insurance supervisor at CIMA (Inter African Conference of Insurance Markets), will discuss corporate social responsibility and the role of the actuary. Learn more on the ICA website.

New Publications

  • The 2014 Life and Health Valuation Law Manual is now available. The manual is designed to help appointed actuaries comply with the requirements of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) model Standard Valuation Law and the Model Actuarial Opinion and Memorandum Regulation. It is available as a CD-ROM or online, for multiple-user or single-user access. Order it online or by mail/fax.

Academy in the News

  • Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello’s written testimony for a U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) risk corridor program was covered by Insurance & Financial Advisor. The Health Practice Council’s fact sheet on the ACA’s risk-sharing mechanisms was also cited in a blog posting published by the National Center for Policy Analysis.
  • Senior Pension Fellow Donald Fuerst explained the funding requirements of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 in a story for the New London, Conn.-based newspaper, The Day.
  • An Academy analysis of 75-year Social Security projections was cited in a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report on “generational accounting.”

Public Policy Activities

  • The Financial Reporting Committee sent a letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board on proposed wording to clarify the methodology used in determining the “top down” discount rate.

Newly Released

  • February HealthCheck: Read about Uccello’s written testimony on the ACA risk-corridor program, the Academy’s RBC work groups’ concerns with a Capital Adequacy Task Force operational risk proposal, the Rate Review Practice Note Work Group’s recent comments to CCIIO, legislative and regulatory updates, news coverage of Academy health policy activities, and much more.

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