Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser.
Recent Academy Activity, April 28– May 2, 2014

Public Policy Activities

  • Retirement thought leaders made presentations and discussed the Academy’s new framework for assessing retirement-income systems at the April 28 “Retirement for the AGES: Measuring for Success” forum in Washington, sponsored by the Pension Practice Council. Mark Iwry, senior advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury and the deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, was the forum’s lunchtime speaker.
  • Notes from the most recent semiannual Intersector Group meetings between delegates of actuarial organizations (including the Academy) and the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, and between delegates and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., are now available on the Academy’s website.
  • The Social Security Committee updated its issue brief on the quantitative measures policymakers can use for evaluating Social Security reform proposals.

Announcement

  • The U.S. Government Accountability Office is looking for casualty, health, and pension actuaries to fill open senior actuary positions at its Washington office. The deadline for applications is May 27. Click here to learn more.

Alert

  • Capital Requirements: Bipartisan legislation (S. 2270) was introduced on April 29 that would allow state-regulated insurance companies to be excluded from Federal Reserve-created minimum capital requirements for systemically important financial institutions. To read the full alert, log in to the membership page and visit “Cross-practice Alerts.”

News from the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB)

  • The ASB recently adopted a revised version of actuarial standard of practice (ASOP) No. 8, now titled Regulatory Filings for Health Benefits, Accident and Health Insurance, and Entities Providing Health Benefits. The standard will be effective for any actuarial work product covered by its scope issued on or after Sept. 1, 2014. View the revised ASOP on the ASB website under the tab, “Current Actuarial Standards of Practice.”
  • The ASB’s 2013 Annual Report is now available on the ASB website in the “Annual and Quarterly Reports” section. The report highlights the board’s accomplishments in 2013, which included the approval of nine exposure drafts and the adoption of five final ASOPs.

Opportunity to Learn and Earn CE

  • Join panelists from the Academy’s Group Long-Term Disability Work Group for the May 15 Academy webinar, “What You Need To Know On The New Group Long-Term Disability Valuation Table And Actuarial Guideline.” The webinar will provide 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 National Association of Insurance Commissioners on April 1. Register online now.

Academy in the News

  • The Academy was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article examining the way Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation has affected the work of health actuaries.
  • The Academy’s Social Security Game was cited as “an online game to show how Social Security can be fixed” in a USA TODAY story on “When to take Social Security payments.”
  • Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello discussed the Academy’s Health Costs/Quality of Care initiative on the April 29 edition of the “Health, Wealth and Wisdom” radio show, broadcast by WHNZ 1250 AM in Tampa, Fla. Uccello also provided perspective on new ACA marketplace enrollment data in a May 1 (subscriber-only) Bloomberg BNA story.
  • The Risk-Sharing Work Group’s comment letter on a proposed rule related to exchanges and market reforms was the subject of a LifeHealthPro story.
  • The Academy’s new “Essential Elements” paper, “The 80% Pension Funding Myth,” was featured in a posting on the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System “Rumor Central” blog.
  • The Pension Practice Council’s and the Pension Finance Task Force’s letters to congressional leadership on the risks of recently discussed pension proposals were the subject of an Insurance Broadcasting story.
  • The publication of the practice note Minimum Value (MV) and Actuarial Value (AV) Determinations Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was covered in the April 25 BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter.

Newly Released

  • May/June Contingencies: Read actuaries’ first-person accounts of what it was like to serve as a Buffalo Soldier in World War II and what it takes to row 2,600 nautical miles solo across the Atlantic Ocean, President Tom Terry’s call to action on the actuarial profession’s role in restoring confidence in public-sector pension plans, an article on the need to revitalize reinsurance capacity, and more.  
  • April Actuarial Update: Read about the Academy’s special retirement forum, a briefing for policymakers on new models of health care delivery, a warning to Congress about using pension policy as a budget tool, ethical and professional responsibilities of international actuaries, and much 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.