Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello and Health Equity Committee members Ugo Okpewho and Sara Teppema gave an overview of the committee’s work on equity considerations related to provider contracting and network development to AHIP’s Health Equity Workgroup. (October 10, 2023)

A new issue brief released by the Health Equity Committee provides an overview of how potential benefit changes are evaluated and how those evaluations could facilitate the incorporation of equity-enhancing benefit design features. These issues were discussed in the second of a series of workshops with stakeholders and decision-makers focusing on changing cost-sharing features, such as through value-based insurance design (VBID), as well as adding benefits to address health-related social needs. (October 05, 2023)

As the days draw short, this is a good time to check your progress toward meeting your CE requirements before the end of the year, in order to meet USQS requirements. (September 30, 2023)

C1 Subcommittee Chairperson Steve Smith and Senior Life Fellow Nancy Bennett presented to the Valuation of Securities Task Force at the Securities Valuation Office training on principles for structured securities modeling and implications for risk-based capital. (September 28, 2023)

The ERM/ORSA Committee released an issue brief, Dividend Limitations—Affiliated Transactions. The issue brief focuses on two issues: 1) review of the existing dividend limitation—which is the maximum dividend that an owner may collect from the insurance company unilaterally without requiring approval by an insurance regulator—and 2) review of the effects of affiliated transactions as they relate to the dividend limitation. The purpose of this issue brief is to discuss the two issues and describe potential actions that could be taken by regulators, whose objective is capital preservation and policyholder protection, to address the issues. (September 27, 2023)

The Health Practice Council’s Medicare Committee submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the draft part one guidance for the Maximum Monthly Cap on Cost-Sharing Payments Program. (September 20, 2023)

The Social Security Committee released an issue brief, Assumptions Used to Evaluate Social Security’s Financial Condition. The issue brief describes the assumptions that must be made in any actuarial projection of the Social Security program’s finances and explains how variations in the assumption values affect the projections. (September 21, 2023)

The ERM/ORSA Committee's comments submitted to the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) in response to the request of the ASB’s Enterprise Risk Management Committee to provide written comments on the Proposed Actuarial Standard of Practice: Enterprise Risk Management exposure draft. (September 14, 2023)

The Pension Committee released an issue brief, Enhancing Retirement Security Through Changes in Plan Design and Related Requirements, that examines modifications to defined benefit (DB) plans that would make them more attractive for modern employers, and looks at ways to incorporate some of the more desirable attributes of DB plans into the more common defined contribution (DC) options that many employers are currently offering. (September 14, 2023)

Director of Research Steve Jackson presented on cyber risk at an International Workshop on Cyber Risk and Security during the Center of Research in Econo-finance and Actuarial sciences on Risk (CREAR) Cyber Conference in Paris, France. This is a continuation of the Academy’s ongoing Cyber Risk initiative, overseen by the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council and the Casualty Practice Council. (September 14, 2023)

Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello and Health Equity Committee member Rebecca Sheppard gave an overview of the committee’s work on equity considerations related to health plan pricing to AHIP’s Health Equity Workgroup. (September 12, 2023)

The Health Practice Council’s Individual and Small Group Markets Committee, Risk Sharing Subcommittee, and Active Benefits Committee submitted a comment letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of the Treasury on the Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance; Independent, Noncoordinated Excepted Benefits Coverage; Level-Funded Plan Arrangements; and Tax Treatment of Certain Accident and Health Insurance notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). (September 11, 2023)

The Actuarial Standards Board recently adopted a revision of Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 20, Discounting of Property/Casualty Claim Estimates, which takes effect Dec. 1, 2023. Robert Walling, chairperson of the task force that revised the standard, offered insight on the changes and how they may affect actuaries’ work. (August 31, 2023)

P/C Committee on Equity and Fairness Chairperson Lauren Cavanaugh and Vice Chairperson Susan Kent presented at the Colorado Division of Insurance’s stakeholder meeting on Unfair Discrimination in Insurance Practices, focusing on private passenger auto insurance. They cited key points, illustrative examples, and the committee’s February issue brief, Approaches to Identify and/or Mitigate Bias in Property and Casualty Insurance. (August 24, 2023)

Academy Senior Health Policy Analyst Matthew Williams provided an update on HPC activities to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Health Actuarial (B) Task Force during its 2023 Summer National Meeting. (August 17, 2023)