The Medicare Steering Committee updated its annual issue brief that offers an actuarial perspective on Medicare's financial condition and outlines the public policy options to address the program's long-term financial challenges.
( )The Health Practice Financial Reporting Committee sent comments to the Actuarial Standards Board on revisions to ASOPs 22, Statements of Opinion Based on Asset Adequacy Analysis by Actuaries for Life and Health Insurers and 28, Statements of Actuarial Opinion Regarding Health Insurance Liabilities and Assets.
The Medical Loss Ratio Work Group sent a letter to CMS offering comments on the revised annual reporting form, specifically on the definition of premiums, contract reserves, and the definition of pre-tax underwriting gain/(loss).
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The Academy submitted comments to the NAIC on its draft white paper on the Solvency Modernization Initiative and insurance regulation offering suggestions encompassing RBC, ORSA, and NAIC model laws.
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The Federal Long-Term Care (LTC) Task Force sent a letter to the National Conference of Insurance Legislators in response to a request for information on strategies to reduce costs related to LTC coverage. The task force highlights a number of general approaches that would address both LTC costs and effectiveness.
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The Health Practice Council and the Committee on Qualifications sent a letter to all state insurance commissioners and chairs of each state house and senate insurance committee regarding the appropriate definition of "Qualified Actuary" as it relates to the Affordable Care Act's rate review provision. Under the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is authorized to determine whether health insurance rate increases filed with states are “unreasonable.” As of September 1, 2011 rate increases equal to or greater than 10 percent may be reviewed by states that have been determined by CMS to have an effective rate review program; otherwise, increases in excess of 10 percent will be reviewed by CMS to determine whether such rate increases are “unreasonable.” As a result, many states are in the process of drafting regulatory language that would create their own rate review program. In the past few months, an inconsistency in the definition of “qualified actuary” in some state regulations has come to the attention of the American Academy of Actuaries. The letter provides recommended language regarding the appropriate definition of qualified actuary as states move to implement the Affordable Care Act’s rate review provision. (
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The Academy has published two guides to help voters better understand the long-term financial challenges facing Medicare and Social Security. Read what to ask candidates—and how to evaluate their answers—about proposals for reforming these programs. The guides are part of the Academy’s Campaign 2012 Toolkits. For more information on the release of the guides, click here. (
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The Health Practice Council submitted a comment letter to the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) providing responses to questions raised during a meeting with representatives of CCIIO on the structure of a proposed actuarial value calculator (for purposes of the ACA). The letter addresses cost-sharing inputs for the calculator, incorporation of induced demand, number of geographic pricing tiers, and incorporation of multiple network tiers.
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The Academy filed on Jan. 27 an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the pending challenge to the Affordable Care Act. The court will hear oral arguments in March. The brief addresses a very narrow aspect of the case before the court—the severability of the individual mandate from the other market reform provisions, namely guaranteed issue and modified community rating. The brief does not take a position on the constitutionality of the individual mandate or whether any other provisions in the law are severable from the mandate—nor does it support or oppose the law as a whole. Read the brief. Read the Academy’s member alert on the filing. Read the news release.
( )In December 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services published final regulations implementing the medical loss ratio requirements in the ACA. Insurers have already begun complying with the reporting and rebate requirements under the ACA and this webinar will focus on the implications of the changes in the final regulations. Learn more. (
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The Academy’s Health Practice Council will present a webinar on Feb. 10 to provide actuaries from all practice areas with essential background on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including key provisions in the law (focusing on those intended to expand coverage and the status of implementation). Members are invited free of charge. Learn more. (
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The Medicare slide decks—the first topic to be addressed in the Academy’s Campaign 2012 Toolkits series—include an overview of the structure of Medicare, the challenges to the program’s solvency and sustainability, and options that have been proposed to reform the program. You can download these files here:
- Sample slide deck without speaker notes: A Guide to Medicare’s Financial Challenges and Options for Improvement
- Sample slide deck with speaker notes: A Guide to Medicare’s Financial Challenges and Options for Improvement
The Academys Pension Accounting Committee and Joint Committee on Retiree Health submitted a comment letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) on the exposure drafts of Statements of Statutory Accounting Principles (SSAP) No. 92 and No. 102. These exposure drafts are intended to replace existing standards governing accounting for pension benefits and postretirement benefits other than pensions (OPEBs). (
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