Breakout Sessions

REGISTER NOW

 

Attendees will hear up-to-the-minute information about top public policy issues during our practice-specific breakout sessions. Up to 1.8 continuing education credits will be available for each breakout session. In addition, the Academy believes in good faith that Enrolled Actuaries may earn up to 1.8 continuing education (CE) credits and core continuing professional education (CPE) credits under the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries (JBEA) for each pension breakout session at the 2019 Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum.

Topics to be covered in-depth this year include:

HEALTH

• Expanding Access to Public Plans (Nov. 5, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  Speakers will discuss state and federal proposals to expand access to public health insurance plans as a way to reduce the number of uninsured and lower health care spending. 
  • Speakers: Linda J. Blumberg, Ph.D, Urban Institute, Michael Cohen, Ph.D, Wakely; Christine Eibner, Ph.D, RAND Corporation
  • Moderator: Cori Uccello, MAAA, FSA, FCA, MPP, Senior Health Fellow, American Academy of Actuaries

• Regulating the Affordable Care Act: What's New for 2020 (Nov. 5, 1:45 to 3:15 p.m.)
  Federal and state regulations that implement the Affordable Care Act are often revised to reflect changes in the law and other policy changes, such as those initiated through presidential executive orders. In this session, representatives from the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will discuss the latest regulatory changes affecting coverage in the ACA marketplaces, including related marketwide rules, rate review, risk adjustment and risk adjustment data validation.
  • Speakers: Brent Plemons, Office for Special Pricing Initiatives; Jeff Wu, CCIIO, CMS, Allison Yadsko, CCIIO, CMS
  • Moderator: Barbara Klever, MAAA, FSA, Chairperson, Academy Individual and Small Group Markets Committee
     
• Long-Term Care (Nov. 6, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  This session will feature a conversation on the future outlook of long-term care (LTC) financing, including the state regulatory environment, the latest developments and updates from the federal perspective, and the perspective of the insurance industry on innovation proposals.
  • Speakers: Vincent Bodnar, MAAA, ASA, Oliver Wyman; Bruce Saul, Senior Regulatory Analyst, Office of Federal Insurance Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Bruce Stahl, Chairperson, MAAA, ASA, Academy LTC Reform Subcommittee
    • Michael Faulkender, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Chairperson, Federal Interagency Task Force on Long Term Care Insurance
  • Moderator: Al Schmitz, MAAA, FSA, Chairperson, Academy Long-Term Care / Disability Subcommittee

LIFE

• Macroprudential Issues (Nov. 5, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  This session will dive into macroprudential issues, covering topics such as liquidity stress testing.
  • Speakers: Tricia Matson, MAAA, FSA, Partner Risk and Regulatory Consulting, Linus Waelti, MAAA, FSA, Vice President & Actuary, New York Life Insurance Company,  Lauren Sarper, Policy Development, External Affairs, Prudential Life Insurance Company
  • Moderator: Jeff Johnson, MAAA, FSA, Chairperson, Academy Macroprudential Task Force
• Combination Products (Nov. 5, 1:45 to 3:15 p.m.)
  Speakers will discuss recent developments around products that combine life insurance with a long-term care policy.
  • Speaker: Carl Friedrich, MAAA, FSA, Member, Academy LTC Combo Valuations Work Group
• Modeling and New Data Sources (Nov. 6, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  This session will cover the latest in modeling and new data sources, including a look at underwriting and the actuary’s role.
  • Speakers: Dorothy Andrews, MAAA, ASA, CPSA, Chairperson, Academy Data Science and Analytics Committee, Chris Stehno, Deloitte
  • Moderator: Andy Ferris, MAAA, FSA, FCA, Member, Data Science and Analytics Committee

P/C

 

• Predictive Models and External Data (Nov. 5, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  The insurance industry is using predictive models to take a more granular approach to determining rates for personal auto and other lines. Conversely, some states have begun to question the use of credit scores and other factors used in those models. Are we headed towards a collision or a meeting of the minds?
  • Moderator: Rich Gibson, MAAA, FCAS, Academy Senior Property/Casualty Fellow
  • Speakers: Dorothy Andrews, MAAA, ASA, CPSA, Chairperson, Academy Data Science and Analytics Committee; Philip Barlow, MAAA, FSA, District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking; Mike Woods, MAAA, FCAS, CSPA, Allstate 
     
• Insurance-Linked Securities (Nov. 5, 1:45 to 3:15 p.m.)
  There are over $30 billion worth of Insurance-Linked Securities issued every year. What are they and how are they changing the insurance business? Besides P/C companies, which other insurance lines are using them and how? How are government agencies using them?
  • Moderator: Shawna Ackerman, MAAA, FCAS, Academy President
  • Speaker: Bill Dubinsky, Willis Tower Watson; Achille Sime-Lanang MAAA, FIAF, FSA, CERA, SL-Financial

 

• Climate Risk/Flood Insurance (Nov. 6, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  The Academy and other actuarial groups are taking an actuarial approach to assessing climate risk through the Actuaries Climate Risk Index which will soon be unveiled. Meanwhile, the National Flood Insurance Program seeks to make significant changes in the way it assesses risk and prices coverage for individual properties.
  • Moderator: Lisa Slotznick, MAAA, FCAS, Academy Vice President, Casualty
  • Speakers: Steve Jackson, PhD., American Academy of Actuaries; Andy Neal, FSA, National Flood Insurance Program

PENSION

• Multiemployer Plans – A Multitude of Challenges for Plan Sponsors, Participants, and Policymakers (Nov. 5, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  Legislators and stakeholders are keenly aware of the need to address the multi employer pension funding crisis. Congress has held numerous hearings on this topic and even created a special committee whose sole purpose was to develop a proposal that would address failing plans and stabilize the system for the future. Hardly a week goes by without a story appearing in the media discussing the magnitude of the crisis or the impact it will have on retirees if it is not resolved. Ultimately, the resolution of the crisis will likely require additional funding (from taxpayers and other sources), and benefit reductions for participants. 
  
  Policymakers will need to decide how the necessary sacrifices will be distributed and what forms they will take.  A comprehensive reform package will also need to include measures to increase the stability of the system to prevent similar crises in the future. In this session, a panel of experts will share their views on the key objectives of reform legislation and their insights into what we can expect from the political process.
  • Speakers: Chris Allen, Senate Finance Committee; Kara Getz, House Ways and Means Committee; Chris Heinz, Grossman Heinz
  • Moderator: Josh Shapiro, MAAA, FSA, EA, FCA, Vice President, Pension
     

• Public Plan Innovations and Plan Designs (Nov. 5, 1:45 to 3:15 p.m.)
  Traditional defined benefits pension plans have been steadily losing favor with employers over the last several decades. In many cases where sponsors have moved away from traditional pension plans, they have transitioned to defined contribution plans. But DC plans, while allowing employers to shed a significant portion of the contribution volatility and longevity risk associated with DB plans, typically do not provide employees with lifetime income. Innovative plan designs combine many of the best features of traditional DB and DC plans to meet the financial objectives of employers and provide lifetime income to employees. At the heart of these designs are risk-sharing mechanisms that transfer —fully or partially—the investment or longevity risk to participants.
  
  Rather than providing a fixed benefit promise, however, retiree income is subject to adjustments based on the actual performance of the underlying investments or the mortality experience of the retirees. Because public plans are exempt from several qualification requirements, they provide fertile ground for innovative plan design. The panelists will discuss recent innovations in plan designs of public employers and how well those innovations meet the needs of both employers and employees.
  • Speakers: Bob Conlin, Wisconsin Retirement System; David Draine, Pew; Sandy Matheson, Maine PERS
  • Moderator: Scott Hittner, MAAA, FSA, EA, FCA, Vice Chairperson, Pension Practice Council 
     
• ERISA Retrospective – Have We Arrived at Our Intended Destination? (Nov. 6, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.)
  The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 made sweeping changes to the regulation of employer-sponsored retirement plans.  Although many factors led to ERISA’s passage, part of its core purpose was to raise the likelihood that participants in defined benefit plans would receive the retirement benefits they earned. Some of ERISA’s most notable provisions included minimum funding standards, vesting requirements, and the establishment of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
  
  In the years since ERISA’s enactment, the retirement landscape has changed dramatically.  Defined benefit plans undoubtedly provide greater benefit security than they used to, but at the same time, these plans have been largely replaced by defined contribution plans as the primary vehicle for providing employer-sponsored retirement benefits.  Workforce patterns have changed as well, and it is now far more common for workers to have multiple employers during their careers than it was when ERISA was enacted. Panelists will discuss ERISA’s objectives and evaluate whether those objectives have been achieved. Would the authors of ERISA be satisfied with the results, and what might they have done differently with the benefit of hindsight? How have economic and cultural shifts affected ERISA’s effectiveness, and what role has subsequent legislation played in the evolution of the retirement system?  
  • Speakers: Kelly Lappin, Raytheon; Russ Mueller, former staff, House Ways and Means Committee; James Wooten, professor, University of Buffalo Law School, and author
  • Moderator: Tim Geddes, MAAA, FSA, EA, FCA, Chairperson, Academy Pension Accounting Resource Group