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Recent Academy Activity, Mar. 10–14, 2014

Recent Events

  • More than 770 registrants learned about credentialed actuaries’ professional responsibilities under Precept 13 of the Code of Professional Conduct during the March 14 webinar hosted by the Council on Professionalism, “Precept 13: Preserving Integrity and Public Trust.” Council member John Purple, a casualty actuary and member of the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD), Lisa Ullman, an enrolled actuary and a member of the Committee on Professional Responsibility, and Sheila Kalkunte, the Academy’s assistant general counsel, discussed how Precept 13 applies to actuaries and actuarial work, steps to take when faced with a potential Precept 13 situation and issues surrounding compliance with Precept 13, and particular case studies in light of Precept 13 obligations. View the slides on the Academy website. A recording of the webinar will be made available for viewing free of charge to Academy members.

Public Policy Activities

  • Members of the Health Practice Council and Federal Health Committee converged on Capitol Hill on March 13 and 14 to discuss health care costs, Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, Medicare, and Medicaid with policymakers. More than 20 volunteers met with representatives from 35 congressional offices and government agencies.
  • William Hines, vice president of the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council, submitted written testimony to the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection for its hearing on capital regulation for insurers.
  • Senior Pension Fellow Donald Fuerst called special attention to lifetime income needs in written testimony submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy for its hearing, “The State of U.S. Retirement Security: Can the Middle Class Afford to Retire?”
  • Joyce Bohl, a member of the Federal Health Committee, made a presentation on “Putting a Premium on Health: The Affordable Care Act & Underwriting” as a panelist at a March 8 session of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ (NCOIL) spring meeting.
  • The Health Solvency Work Group sent a letter to the NAIC Health Risk-Based Capital Working Group offering alternatives to increasing risk-based capital factors to cover risk adjustment, temporary reinsurance, and temporary risk corridors in the ACA.
  • The ORSA subgroup of the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council provided comments on a draft of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Guidance Manual for the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment.

Opportunities to Learn

  • Next week’s “Academy Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” webinar, “Actuary Serving Congress: A Conversation With GAO’s Chief Actuary,” will feature the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Chief Actuary, Frank Todisco. The webinar, which will take place March 20 from noon to 1 p.m., Eastern, will include an overview of the GAO, and address the role of the actuary within the GAO, and GAO’s work on key national issues that have required actuarial input and expertise. Register now.
  • Academy experts will present pre- and post-meeting seminars in connection with the Enrolled Actuaries Meeting that will take place later this month in Washington. Registrants may earn up to 2.9 EA core and up to 2.5 EA core/ethics continuing education credits at the March 23 “Professional Standards/Ethical Dilemmas Seminar” and up to 8.4 EA noncore credits at the March 26-27 “2014 Pension Symposium: Retirement Security in the U.S.—What’s Working, What’s Not, and Where Do We Go From Here?” Learn more and register online.

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

  • This diverse meeting 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 continuing education. How could the world of insurance, underwriting, and product development change in response to big data? On April 2, Dan Ryan of Swiss Re Services will provide insights about what the future holds in the session, “The Importance of Big Data in the Life and Health Insurance Industry.” Learn more on the ICA website.

ABCD Member Profile: Allan Ryan

  • Allan W. Ryan, MAAA, FSA, is the newest member of the ABCD. A former Academy Vice President of Professionalism, Allan’s area of practice is life insurance, where he specialized in financial reporting. His 42 years of actuarial experience include employment at major insurance companies, as well as serving as chief actuary for a smaller insurance company. During his consulting career he was involved with documenting formal procedures for compliance with actuarial standards, and firm, regulatory, and accounting requirements. 

Newly Released

  • Spring Enrolled Actuaries Report: Read about congressional action on MAP-21, the importance of Precept 13 in the Code of Professional Conduct, the Academy’s new “Essential Elements” series, the March 26-27 2014 Pension Symposium, as well as remembrances of Paulette Tino and Rowland Cross.
  • March HealthCheck: Read about the Academy’s new public policy research partnership with the Health Care Cost Institute, an Academy volunteer’s NCOIL presentation on the ACA’s effect on rating, a letter to NAIC’s Health Risk-Based Capital Working Group, the Department of Health and Human Services’ final rule on the 2015 benefit and payment parameters, and much more.

Academy in the News

  • Don Fuerst’s written testimony for a congressional hearing on retirement security was cited in the BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter.
  • LifeHealthPro covered Joyce Bohl’s March 8 NCOIL presentation in the story, “Actuary eyes PPACA reinsurance expense.”
  • The Health Solvency Work Group’s March 10 letter to NAIC’s Health Risk-Based Capital Working Group was cited in the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter.
  • Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello was quoted in a (subscriber-only) Bloomberg BNA story, “MedPAC Leaning Toward Monthly Bonus for Primary Care Based on Beneficiaries.”

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