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Recent Academy Activity, April 13-17, 2015

National Media Turns to the Academy on the Actuarial Profession

Academy Immediate Past President Tom Terry and Regular Director Audrey Halvorson spoke on behalf of the profession to media covering the new CareerCast.com annual jobs rating report, which named “actuary” the best job of 2015. The report compared income, employment stability and advancement potential, stress, and other physical and environmental factors across 200 professions in determining the ratings.

In an interview with CNBC, Terry provided an overview of the profession and told readers what it takes to become an actuary. “In the United States, actuaries typically pass a series of rigorous exams given by one of the actuarial societies. This basic education is accompanied by serious on-the-job training and continuing education. The American Academy of Actuaries sets standards for what it means to be a qualified actuary,” said Terry. The interview can also be found on Yahoo Autos and Here Is The City.

Halvorson shared her perspective of the profession with Business Insider, saying, “Being an actuary is a rare profession that is well paid and well respected. ... In addition, most actuaries love math to some degree, and they get to use this skill in a dynamic business world.” The story also ran in The Trading Report.

Recently Released

  • In the spring 2015 issue of PBA Perspectives, read about the small-company exemption from principle-based reserving (PBR) requirements in VM-20 that was approved by the NAIC’s Executive Committee in March; the proposed exemption will now go before the NAIC Plenary for a vote at its summer meeting in August. Also read a recap of other PBR issues from the NAIC’s spring meeting, view upcoming events, and stay up to date on PBR progress.

Alerts

  • The Department of Labor released a proposed rule on April 14 to redefine a “fiduciary” in an employee benefit plan, so that a fiduciary must act in the client's best interests rather than simply meet the current “suitability” standard. Read more here or in the member section under “Pension Alerts.”
  • The U.S. Senate this week passed, and President Obama then signed, H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, to permanently eliminate Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and set up a new payment system for physicians by increasing payments to doctors treating Medicare patients for the next five years by 0.5 percent and allow for a Merit-Based Incentive Payment System beginning in 2019. Read more here or in the member section under “Health Alerts.”

Public Policy Activities

  • The Price Optimization Task Force submitted a comment letter to the NAIC’s Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force (CASTF) on its draft price optimization white paper.
  • The Life Illustrations Work Group sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s Life Actuarial (A) Task Force on the proposed actuarial guideline for indexed universal life illustrations.

Register Now for the LHQ Seminar

  • Register now for the 2015 Life and Health Qualifications Seminar, to be held Nov. 9-12 in Arlington, Va. (metropolitan Washington, D.C.). See why so many of your peers find this seminar the most succinct and effective way to acquire the required basic education and continuing education to assist in being qualified to sign NAIC annual statement life and health actuarial opinions.

    This seminar is the primary source of instruction for actuaries who wish to be qualified to issue actuarial opinions for either the NAIC Life and A&H Annual Statement or the NAIC Health Annual Statement but may not have met the basic education requirements set forth in Section 3.1.1 of the U.S. Qualification Standards (USQS).

    Register early—Seats are limited and will fill up quickly.

Upcoming Events

  • International health care costs: Join the Academy’s Health Practice Council and the International Actuarial Association at 9:30 a.m. EDT on May 13 for “Exploring Global Health Care Cost Drivers: South Africa and the United States.” This second webinar in a series will provide a unique opportunity to learn about the successes and challenges that both South Africa and the United States have experienced as they’ve worked to identify and address particular cost drivers. No fee is charged for Academy members or members of the IAA’s health section.

Recent Events

  • Enrolled Actuaries (EA) Meeting: The Academy and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries jointly hosted the 40th annual Enrolled Actuaries Meeting in Washington, attended by more than 800 enrolled actuaries. The meeting offered a variety of panels and workshops, covering a wide range of topics and issues relevant to EAs and other pension professionals, as well as exhibits of products and services. Look for more information about the EA Meeting in the April issue of Actuarial Update and the next Enrolled Actuaries Report.
  • Post-NAIC webinar: The Life Practice Council held a post-NAIC National Meeting update webinar earlier today. Moderator Dave Neve, chairperson of the Academy Life Reserves Work Group, led a discussion of topics covered at the spring NAIC meeting. Speakers included Mike Boerner, chair of the NAIC’s Life Actuarial (A) Task Force; Mark Birdsall, chair of the NAIC’s Life Risk-Based Capital (E) Working Group; and Jerry Holman, co-chairperson of the Academy’s C1 Work Group.

Academy in the News

  • An opinion piece in the Kansas City Star, and reprinted by Insurance News Net, reports on the Academy’s social media efforts to raise awareness of the property/casualty risks associated with extreme weather/climate-related events ahead of Earth Day (April 22). The columnist cites analysis from the Academy’s Essential Elements paper “Climate Change,” which notes that “insurers are facing higher property and casualty insurance losses, which ultimately leads to higher costs to consumers and businesses.”

    Additional stories in Canadian Underwriter, Life & Health Advisor, and Insurance Business America cover the Academy’s announcement and quoteCasualty Practice Council Vice President Shawna Ackerman, who said, “Our aim is to evaluate and help manage exposure to these risks from an insurance perspective. We do that by combining an objective perspective on what current climate science is telling us with our actuarial expertise.”

    Follow the Academy on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to get the latest updates on the profession’s work on climate change and insurance risk.

  • An AIS Health story on challenges facing the federal Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) cites the Academy issue brief, Potential Implications of the Small Group Definition Expanding to Employers with 51-100 Employees. The story notes the Academy’s analysis that “larger small groups will have to adhere to provisions such as essential health benefits and metal-tiering plan classifications that previously were reserved for the 1- to 50-employee segment, likely pushing plenty of the 51- to 100-worker firms to self-insure,” rather than purchase coverage through the SHOP exchange.
  • After Fifty Living republished the Bankrate.com opinion piece “Wake up! Your retirement is your problem.” The story looks at retirement security risks relative to pensions and 401(k) plans, and quotes Senior Pension Fellow Don Fuerst’s comments on recent changes to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Pension Protection Act.

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