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. (July 31, 2014)

In this month's Actuarial Update, read about the Academy’s Summer Summit where policy experts and Academy leaders gathered to discuss the Aging of America; a new “Essential Elements” paper on Social Security; an ASB request for comments on public pension standards; the additional qualifications required for signing NAIC annual statement opinions; the Academy’s expanded Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum; and much more. (July 31, 2014)

The Academy published a new Essential Elements paper, Securing Social Security, which examines the long-term solvency challenges facing the nation’s largest social insurance program and approaches that could provide adequate long-term financing for the program. Essential Elements is a series designed to make actuarial analyses of public policy issues clearer to general audiences. (July 28, 2014)

The Pension Practice Council (PPC) and Pension Finance Task Force (PFTF) submitted letters to Congressional leaders on concerns about proposals to raise revenues by changing private sector pension law to offset unrelated spending increases. (July 25, 2014)

The ORSA Subgroup submitted comments to the NAIC's Risk-Focused Surveillance Working Group on the second exposure draft of ORSA guidance, which will be included in the Financial Analysis Handbook and the Financial Condition Examiners Handbook. (July 22, 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. (July 18, 2014)

The Casualty Practice Council sent letter to U.S. House leaders on the TRIA Reform Act of 2014 in support of reauthorizing the terrorism risk insurance program and maintaining a government backstop for a peril that is difficult to fully insure in the private market. (July 16, 2014)

The Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting submitted a comment letter to the NAIC's Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force on proposed changes to IRIS ratios 11, 12, and 13, which would add adjusting and other expenses to the basis for calculating those ratios. (July 10, 2014)

Several Academy members presented at the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ summer meeting in Boston, July 9-13. Mike Angelina, vice president of the Casualty Practice Council, presented on the evolving role of the private market in providing flood insurance, and Senior Life Fellow Nancy Bennett offered an update on principle-based reserving (PBR) implementation that included a legislation-in-brief document and FAQs. Ellen Kleinstuber, vice-chairperson of the Pension Committee, discussed NCOIL’s proposed Pension De-Risking Model Act in the wake of the Pension Committee sending a letter to NCOIL on the proposal last week. (July 12, 2014)

The Casualty Practice Council submitted comments to Senate leaders on the Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2014 in support of reauthorizing the terrorism risk insurance program and maintaining a government backstop for a peril that is difficult to fully insure in the private market. (July 10, 2014)

In this month’s HealthCheck, read about the Academy’s congressional testimony on risk-sharing mechanisms in the Affordable Care Act, a final rule on tax credits for small employers offering health coverage, media coverage of the Academy’s analysis of factors influencing 2015 premiums, and more.  (July 09, 2014)