The Pension Practice Council submitted a letter to members of the House-Senate Conference Committee commenting on the pension funding stabilization provisions included in S. 1813 as passed by the Senate. The PPC recommended that to the extent the conference committee chooses to include pension funding changes in the final legislation to create more stability in contributions for plan sponsors, this could be accomplished better by smoothing outputs (contribution requirements) rather than inputs (discount rates).
(May 02, 2012)
(May 02, 2012)
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).
(May 02, 2012)
COPLFR submitted comments to the NAIC on the Blanks Working Group’s proposed 2012 Actuarial Opinion Instructions.
(May 01, 2012)
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.
(April 30, 2012)
The Financial Regulatory Reform Task Force comments to the Federal Reserve on its proposed rule establishing additional prudential standards to apply to non-bank financial service companies identified by the FSOC as companies that could pose systemic risk. The comments focused on the application of the proposed standards addressing risk based capital, leverage regulations, liquidity standards, risk management processes, counterparty limits, stress test requirements, debt to equity limits, and early remediation to US insurers that currently are under the regulatory supervision of one state functional regulator.
(April 30, 2012)
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.
(April 27, 2012)
The Pension Practice Council published a new issue brief examining the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premium structure and current proposals to revise that structure. The issue brief discusses and differentiates between two categories of costs faced by the PBGC: going-forward costs and legacy costs.
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. (April 20, 2012)
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. (April 20, 2012)
The Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council wrote a letter to the Department of Treasury urging that actuarial science be one of the specific considerations for members of the proposed Financial Research Advisory Committee that will support the work of the Office of Financial Research.
(April 13, 2012)The Natural Catastrophe Subcommittee provided comments to the National Conference of Insurance Legislators on natural catastrophe insurance reform options, focusing on damage prevention and risk financing.
(April 13, 2012)The Joint Economic Scenario Generator Project Oversight Group of the American Academy of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries has released an updated FAQ document that provides important information on the Academy’s Interest Rate Generator (AIRG). In January 2012, the POG updated the AIRG with historical yield curves through December 2011.
(April 04, 2012)
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.
(April 02, 2012)
The Pension Accounting Committee and Public Plans Subcommittee submitted a joint letter to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in response to GASB's Preliminary Views on Economic Condition Reporting: Financial Projections. The letter addressed several of the questions posed to respondents in the Preliminary Views from an actuarial perspective with respect to pension and postretirement obligations.
The Academy’s Social Security Committee published a guide to analyzing Social Security reform proposals. Visit the Campaign 2012 Toolkit page for more information.
The Academy's Medical Professional Liability Insurance Committee published a fact sheet on the Death, Disability, and Retirement (DDR) Extended Reporting Endorsement. This is the third in a series of fact sheets published by the Committee designed for actuaries as well as the general public.
(March 23, 2012)The Medical Professional Liability Committee sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives concerning H.R. 5, which would reform the medical professional liability system and repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board.
(March 23, 2012)The Financial Reporting Committee responds to questions posed in FASB's Revenue Recognition paper.
(March 13, 2012)If you missed the March 7 webinar on lifetime income, you can download the slides for free or order a recording of the webinar for a small fee. Noel Abkemeier and Tonya Manning, co-chairpersons of the Academy’s Joint Lifetime Income Risk Task Force, provided an overview of the risks of inadequate lifetime income, current options to address the risks, and the range of policy solutions to help retirees better prepare for managing lifetime retirement needs. Tom Terry, chairperson of the Public Interest Committee, also announced new Academy initiatives underway to advance the discussions surrounding longevity risk.
The Academy presented to the National Conference of Insurance Legislators on its comments to the Federal Insurance Office regarding insurance modernization in the U.S. system.
(February 24, 2012)
