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Recent Academy Activity, March 9-13, 2015

Members of the Health Practice Council and Federal Health Committee visited over 40 congressional offices and government agencies on March 12 and 13 to discuss health care costs, Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, Medicare and Medicaid with policymakers. Seventeen volunteers met with congressional staff in the council’s annual visit to Capitol Hill.

Public Policy Activities

  • Academy Senior Pension Fellow Donald Fuerst provided written testimony for a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, “Bridging the Gap: How Prepared are Americans for Retirement?” Fuerst’s testimony addressed longevity risk, and potential approaches to increase Americans’ financial literacy.
  • The Life Illustrations Work Group sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s Life Actuarial (A) Task Force on an exposed actuarial guideline for indexed universal life illustrations.
  • The P/C Risk-Based Capital (RBC) Committee submitted a comment letter to the NAIC’s Property/Casualty Risk-Based Capital Working Group on methods of properly quantifying reserve and premium underwriting factors.

Upcoming Events

  • Register now: The Academy Capitol Forum lunchtime webinar series returns March 25 with “How Did State & Local Pension Plans Become Underfunded?” Jean-Pierre Aubry of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College will discuss the evolution of the unfunded liability in public plans and the impact of a few well-defined factors—such as poor investment returns, inadequate contributions, and benefit changes—on underfunding. Academy Senior Fellow Don Fuerst will moderate and discuss the work the Academy is undertaking on public plan issues.

Newly Released

  • In the March issue of HealthCheck, read about a new issue brief examining how the rules applying to groups sized 51-100 will change with the ACA’s scheduled expansion of the definition of small employers to those with up to 100 employees. Also in this issue is a synopsis of the letter from the Health Practice Council (HPC) to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on the possible implications of a Supreme Court ruling in King v. Burwell, recent regulatory updates, and more.

Surprise an Exceptional Colleague or Mentor

  • As this is the Academy’s 50th anniversary, now is the perfect time to recognize another Academy member who may have been a colleague or mentor for their service to our profession. Each year the Academy honors members who devote themselves to the actuarial profession through their service and volunteer efforts with our Jarvis Farley Service Award and Robert J. Myers Public Service Award. The awards will be presented at the Academy’s 50th anniversary celebration in November.

    All members are invited to nominate colleagues or mentors for these, and our Outstanding Volunteerism Awards. Help us recognize those who have given so much to the profession—learn more and submit your nomination(s) today.

Academy in the News

  • A Politico Pro subscriber-only story cites the Academy issue brief “Potential Implications of the Small Group Definition Expanding to Employers with 51-100 Employees.” The story reports that HHS is considering delaying the ACA provision on small group market expansion and cites analysis from the Academy’s issue brief to help readers understand the provision’s implications. It is currently set to take effect for plan years beginning in 2016.
  • Media reports citing the HPC’s Feb. 24 letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell continued this week with mentions in stories by Politico Pro, Insurance Business America, Insurance News Net, and the Deloitte health blog. Visit the Academy Newsroom to see the full list of media stories that cite the Academy’s letter in their coverage of King v. Burwell.

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