Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello provided written testimony on potential implications of expanding small-group definition to companies with 51-100 employees to the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on affordable health care.

The Long-Term Care Terminations Work Group presented an update to the NAIC's Long-Term Care Actuarial Working Group on progress made in developing a recommendation on LTC terminations and next steps.  The Long-Term Care Principle-Based Work Group offered an update on developing a principle-based approach model and a timeline for completion, and the Long-Term Care Credibility Monograph Work Group presented its progress in drafting a monograph that addresses long-term care credibility.  

The Cancer Claims Cost Tables Work Group presented to the NAIC's Health Actuarial Task Force on the progress of the valuation table and expected next steps.

The Individual and Small Group Markets Committee released an issue brief that provides an overview of the factors underlying the general premium rate setting and highlights the major drivers behind why 2016 premiums could differ from those in 2015 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Click here to read the news release.

The Financial Reporting Committee, Pension Accounting Committee, Casualty Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting, Health Financial Reporting and Solvency Committee, and Life Financial Reporting Committee sent comments to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on its “The Auditor's Use of the Work of Specialists” consultation paper.

The Medicare Subcommittee published “Does It Meet the Needs of the Beneficiaries?” “Is It Sustainable for 50 More Years?” and “Who Are the Beneficiaries?” the first three papers in its Medicare@50 series. The papers examine various aspects surrounding the program on its 50^th anniversary. Read the news release.

The Medicare Subcommittee published an issue brief offering an actuarial perspective on Medicare's long-term financial condition in the wake of the 2015 Medicare Trustees report, and the Social Security Committee also released an issue brief on the Social Security Trustees latest report that examines the social insurance program’s long-term solvency challenges.

The Casualty Practice Council, Health Practice Council, Life Practice Council, and Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council sent comments to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) on its Financial Condition (E) Committee questionnaire that examines the reasons for single-state solutions to help regulators develop a process for creating a uniform framework for state-based regulation.

The Medicaid Subcommittee sent a comment letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on proposed rules about Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Programs; Medicaid managed care, CHIP delivered in managed care, Medicaid and CHIP comprehensive quality strategies, and revisions related to third party liability.

The Medicare Subcommittee released an issue brief, “Medicare’s Financial Condition: Beyond Actuarial Balance,” on significant concerns about Medicare’s long-term financial health.

The Individual Disability Tables Work Group (IDTWG) provided this memo to responses received on the “The Individual Disability Valuation Standard Report of the Joint American Academy of Actuaries/Society of Actuaries Individual Disability Tables Work Group” (the “Report”). This memo summarizes the comments and responses.

The Academy updated its Essential Elements reports on Medicare’s Long-Term Sustainability Challenge and Securing Social Security with information from the newly released 2015 Medicare and Social Security trustees reports. The Essential Elements series is designed to make actuarial analyses of public policy issues clearer to general audiences.

The Academy's Health Practice International Committee released an issue brief exploring current wellness initiatives, highlighting four international case studies.

The Health Care Cost Work Group published an issue brief addressing health care cost growth in Medicare by providing a framework for understanding and evaluating the options for reforming Medicare and their potential effects on cost growth, quality of care, and access to care.

The Health Practice Council (HPC) published an issue brief that examines the approaches included in various proposals that policymakers are considering before the Supreme Court decision in King v. Burwell. The court could decide that federal premium subsidies are not available for individual market plans in states participating in the federally facilitated marketplace.