The Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) has adopted its 50th actuarial standard of practice (ASOP), Determining Minimum Value and Actuarial Value under the Affordable Care Act. This milestone—50 standards adopted to provide actuaries with appropriate practices across all practice areas—provides the Academy and its membership another reason to celebrate amid our ongoing 50th anniversary festivities this year. The standard, which will be effective for any actuarial work product covered by its scope issued on or after Jan. 31, 2016, can be viewed here. See the October Actuarial Update for more coverage.
October Actuarial Update Released
The October Actuarial Update covers the recent “Aging Securely” Capitol Hill forum and release of the new Social Security Game; the appointment of the Academy’s new general counsel, Paul Kollmer-Dorsey; the release of a joint paper on longevity risk; and the ASB’s release of ASOP No. 50.
‘Unknown Unknowns’ Professionalism Webinar
The Academy’s popular professionalism webinar series continued Friday with more than 700 registered sites participating in a webinar to discuss a professionalism framework for approaching unknown unknowns in actuarial work. Presenters Eli Greenblum and Tom Wildsmith discussed how the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act and the Affordable Care Act have both produced compliance questions without ready actuarial answers. Both laws experienced late, ambiguous, or unanticipated implementing rules. Academy President Mary D. Miller also reviewed the controversy created in the P&C community by the questioning of actuaries’ integrity and competence after 2002 annual statements showed significant adverse development on 2001 reserves. All three panelists spoke about the professionalism framework provided by the Code of Professional Conduct, the U.S. Qualification Standards, and the ASOPs that they have used to ground their work when, instead of dealing with the usual known unknowns actuaries frequently assess, they are faced with no relevant past experience or known requirements of law and regulations. The three different practice area discussions suggested common approaches can be used across practice areas to work through the professional obligations actuaries have to be qualified and comply with standards when the usual guideposts are not evident. Members who missed the webinar can access the slides without charge by clicking here. Audio from the webinar will also be available next week.
Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum Approaching—Register Today
In addition to the opportunity to meet friends and colleagues in a professional, instructive, and relaxed surrounding, this meeting offers you the opportunity to celebrate the Academy’s rich history and to listen to talented and informed speakers on a variety of attractive professionalism and public policy topics. We’ve packed the day and a half program with top notch speeches, exciting breakout sessions, thought-provoking panels, and the chance to meet your colleagues from across the United States. Our program features plenary and breakout sessions that touch on many of the key topics shaping the actuarial profession.
By attending the entire Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum, depending upon your area of practice, the agenda will enable attendees to earn up to 11.1 organized activity continuing education (CE) credits, 1.5 hours of business skills CE credits, and 4.2 hours of professionalism CE credits.
A limited number of seats remain for the Academy’s 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner on Nov. 12, which will be hosted in the spectacular Renaissance Revival-style halls of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in downtown Washington, D.C. Don’t miss out; register today.
Alerts
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, suspending the debt ceiling until March 2017 and lifting the Budget Control Act’s discretionary spending caps for two consecutive fiscal years. The bipartisan deal also addresses a variety of areas including health care, retirement security, and crop insurance. Read the full alert here, or in the members section of the Academy website under “Cross Practice Alerts.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule on a process for states to document whether Medicaid payments are sufficient to ensure Medicaid beneficiaries have adequate access to covered services. Read the full alert here, or in the members section of the Academy website under “Health Alerts.”
Alert subscriptions: Alerts subscribers are notified by e-mail when a new Alert is posted in their area(s) of interest. The Alerts focus on five areas: casualty, cross-practice, health, life, and pension. Academy members may subscribe to any or all of them after signing in to the members section of the website.
Public Policy Activities
The Solvency Committee submitted comments to the NAIC on the Group Capital Calculation Recommendation exposure draft.
The Health Practice International Committee released a new issue brief exploring the similarities and differences with respect to long-term care reform in Austria, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States.
The Life Reserves Work Group submitted an amendment proposal to the NAIC regarding the removal of references to the “seriatim reserve” in the Valuation Manual and another amendment proposal regarding the definition and clarification of the term “modeled reserve” in the VM-20.
Upcoming Events
Early Registration Closes Oct. 31 for P/C Opinion Seminar: The discounted early registration rate for the Academy’s 2015 Seminar on P/C Effective Loss Reserve Opinions is available through 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Oct. 31. Space is limited for the seminar, which will be held Dec. 1-2 in Philadelphia. Actuaries who prepare or sign NAIC annual statement actuarial opinions on P/C loss reserves, or those who assist in preparing them, should plan to attend. Click here for seminar information, here to see the speakers list, and here to register.
The 2015 Life and Health Qualifications Seminar will be held Nov. 9-12 in Arlington, Va. (metropolitan Washington, D.C.), just prior to the Academy’s Annual Meeting in Washington. The seminar has reached capacity but spaces sometimes open up—please visit the seminar page for waiting-list information.
Pension Costs Webinar Coming in November: The Academy’s Nov. 10 webinar, “Alternatives for Pension Cost Recognition,” will provide a discussion of an area of emerging practice to inform actuaries and other interested parties about alternative expense methodologies. Click here for information and to register.
Save the Date: The Council on Professionalism webinar “Facing a Dilemma? The ABCD Can Help,” will be held on Dec. 9. Stay tuned for more details as they are available.
In the News
Media outlets across three continents have reported on the release of The Challenge of Longevity Risk: Making Retirement Income Last a Lifetime, a joint project by the Academy, the U.K.’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and the Actuaries Institute of Australia. The paper explores considerations of the decumulation phase of retirement, in which a retiree spends down assets accumulated prior to retirement. Stories in BenefitsPro and Canada’s Benefits and Pensions Monitor report on the paper from a North American perspective.
An opinion piece in The Irish Timeshighlights the March/April Contingencies feature story, “Smoke and Mirrors” about marijuana use and underwriting. The op-ed uses the evidence cited in the Contingencies article to support the author’s call for Ireland to follow the U.S., Great Britain, and Portugal in reforming policies that criminalize marijuana use.
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