Prominent speakers at the Academy’s Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum in Washington on Nov. 13-14 offered insights into the future of the Academy, insurance regulation at both the domestic and international levels, trends in health care policymaking, and other major public policy topics of interest. A robust professionalism discussion of how actuaries with governmental contacts should deal with potential risks from insider trading laws was highly popular. Read the full remarks of Academy President Mary D. Miller, Immediate Past President Tom Terry, National Association of Insurance Commissioners CEO Ben Nelson, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. (November 21, 2014)
Academy President Tom Terry helped kick off the Actuarial Society of New York’s Nov. 5 fall meeting in New York as the speaker for its general session “Professionalism: Meeting High Expectations in a Fast-Changing World.” The session provided several hundred actuaries in attendance with an update on recent Academy activities, including highlights of professionalism activities, and perspectives on the long-term future of the actuarial profession in the United States. (November 05, 2014)
The Reinsurance Committee submitted comments to the International Accounting Standards Board on the Insurance Contracts Project's reinsurance and ceding commissions proposal. (November 20, 2014)
Mike Angelina, the Academy’s immediate past vice-president for casualty, made a presentation to the Casualty Actuarial and Statistical (C) Task Force (CASTF) at the Fall NAIC Meeting on the public policy implications raised by the practice of price optimization in ratemaking. (November 20, 2014)
Medicare Supplement Work Group made a presentation to the NAIC’s Health Actuarial Task Force on recommendations for potential modifications to the Medicare Supplement refund formula. (November 18, 2014)
The Individual Disability Work Group made a presentation to the NAIC’s Health Actuarial Task Force at the Fall NAIC National Meeting on the newly revised individual disability report and actuarial guideline. (November 18, 2014)
Speaking at the American Academy of Actuaries’ Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum in Washington on Nov. 14, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) CEO Ben Nelson thanked the Academy, its committed volunteers, and dedicated staff for their involvement and contributions to the NAIC for nearly 50 years and described the Academy’s role as “instrumental” to the NAIC’s work on state-based insurance regulation. He said the NAIC would continue to tap the Academy’s expertise in implementing Own Risk and Solvency Assessment, principle-based reserving for life insurance, and other major regulatory initiatives on both the domestic and international levels. In discussing many of the common initiatives worked on by the NAIC and the Academy, Nelson remarked on the “wealth of actuarial input given by the Academy to the NAIC.” Nelson, who is also a former U.S. senator, governor, and insurance commissioner from the state of Nebraska, strongly defended the U.S. insurance sector as a “source of stability” that should not be regulated “like it’s a short-term, high-risk enterprise.” On the international level, he said, “The fixation of international standard setters on capital as a buffer – if not the buffer – to mitigate risks suggests the actuarial profession’s voice is now more critical than ever. For years, we have worked side by side to build risk-based capital and a solvency framework that is tailored to our regulatory approach and the U.S. market. We now collectively face a threat to that work, should bank-like regulation bleed into the insurance space.” He identified the need to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) before year end as an immediate priority, as well as working longer-term on growing threats to cyber security. Read the entire remarks here. (November 18, 2014)
The Solvency Committee submitted written testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing on "The Impact of International Regulatory Standards on the Competitiveness of U.S. Insurers, Part II." (November 18, 2014)
The Deposit Fund Subgroup of the Annuity Reserves Work Group made a presentation to the NAIC Life Actuarial (A) Task Force on the subgroup’s proposal to modify regulations of synthetic guaranteed investment contracts (GIC). (November 14, 2014)
The American Academy of Actuaries and Society of Actuaries Joint Project Oversight Group made a presentation to the NAIC Life Actuarial (A) Task Force on the development of the 2014 VBT and CSO tables. (November 14, 2014)
Read the latest issue of This Week—the Academy's end-of-week digital newsletter, compiling a week’s worth of news, updates, and media coverage in one convenient, easy-to-use publication. (November 14, 2014)
The Medicare Supplement Work Group submitted a report to the NAIC on recommendations for potential modifications to the Medicare Supplement refund formula. (November 12, 2014)
The Medicaid Work Group sent a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the introduction of Sovaldi and other new Breakthrough Therapy Designation medications and their potential impact on Medicaid costs. (November 11, 2014)
The Reinsurance Committee sent comments to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on the Uniform Application Checklist for Certified Reinsurers exposure draft. (November 11, 2014)
