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Recent Academy Activity, April 14– 18, 2014

Announcements

  • J. Mark Iwry, senior advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury and deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, will deliver remarks at the Academy’s special April 28 forum, Retirement for the AGES:  Measuring for Success. The forum at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington will include a review of the Academy’s AGES (Alignment, Governance, Efficiency, and Sustainability) framework, presentations of policy proposals to increase retirement security, and panel discussions on how well these retirement plans and proposals adhere to the framework. To register, click here.
  • Academy members are invited to nominate themselves or others for consideration as a candidate to be a regular director on the Academy’s board of directors. Visit the Academy’s online Election Center to submit your nomination.

Reminder

  • VM-20 Practice Note Exposure Draft Deadline: Comments on the exposure draft, Life Principle-Based Reserves Under VM-20, are due by April 25. The practice note details anticipated practice for calculating minimum valuation standard statutory reserves under VM-20 for life insurance products. Submit comments to meetz@actuary.org.

Public Policy Activities

  • The Academy cautioned leaders of both the House and Senate that recently discussed pension proposals need to be considered based on pension policy and a full examination of potential effects on pension system stakeholders, not merely as an offset for unrelated spending increases. The Pension Practice Council and the Pension Finance Task Force both sent letters to the bipartisan congressional leadership on April 17.
  • The Life Capital Adequacy Subcommittee submitted comments on a March 20 exposure of a revised proposal providing for operational risk in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) life risk-based capital formula.
  • The Principle-Based Reserve Strategy Subgroup clarified its suggestion to eliminate the net premium reserve component of VM-20 in earlier comments on the Feb. 17 Report of Rector & Associates, Inc. to the Principle-Based Reserving Implementation (EX) Task Force.

News from the Actuarial Standards Board

  • A discussion draft, Determining Minimum Value and Actuarial Value under the Affordable Care Act, is now available for comment. Although there is a practice note providing information on this subject, there is currently no guidance on it. The ASB Health Committee suggests comments on such a potential actuarial standard of practice be submitted by Sept. 30, 2014. Learn more at www.actuarialstandardsboard.org.

Opportunities to Learn

  • The Academy’s April 22 Post-NAIC Update/PBA webinar will review the NAIC spring 2014 national meeting. The webinar, which will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern, will include an account 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 the recently exposed Life Principle-Based Reserves Under VM-20 practice note. Attendance may constitute an organized activity providing continuing education (CE) credit under U.S. Qualification Standards. Register online using coupon code academy to receive the member registration rate.
  • This month’s “Academy Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” webinar, “Disability Insurance Trust Fund: Behind the Numbers with SSA’s Chief Actuary,” will take place April 23 from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern. Speaker Steve Goss, Social Security’s chief actuary, will provide an overview of the disability insurance program, and discuss its projected solvency and cost drivers, as well as policymakers’ proposed reforms to the program. Register online now.
  • It’s time for some serious “table talk” on group long-term disability—that is, an in-depth look at the use, application, and various features of the new group long-term disability valuation table and actuarial guideline approved by the NAIC on April 1. Join panelists from the Academy’s Group Long-Term Disability Work Group for the May 15 webinar, “What You Need To Know On The New Group Long-Term Disability Valuation Table And Actuarial Guideline.” Attendance may constitute an organized activity providing CE credit under U.S. Qualification Standards. Register online now.

Academy in the News

  • The Academy’s letters to congressional leadership on the risks of recently discussed pension proposals were covered by InsuranceNewsNet, BenefitsLink Retirement Plans Newsletter, and other media outlets.
  • A graphic from the Health Practice Council’s fact sheet on Affordable Care Act risk-sharing mechanisms was reprinted in a Washington Post story.
  • Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello provided perspective on rate-setting for the 2015 plan year in a (subscriber-only) story in Inside Health Insurance Exchanges.
  • The Academy was noted as a new research partner of the Health Care Cost Institute in an interview published by the Health Data Consortium.
  • The Academy’s issue brief, The 80% Pension Funding Standard Myth, was cited in a web posting by the California Policy Center.

Newly Released

  • April Healthcheck: Read about the Academy’s new Health Cost and Quality of Care Initiative, enactment of a law preserving the sustainable growth rate for one year, proposed and final HHS rules, a citation of the Academy in a New York Times article on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and much more.


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