Candidate Information: Annette James

Candidate for Regular Director Term Ending in 2024

Annette James

Practice Area: Health
Employer: NovaRest Actuarial Consulting
City, State: Reno, Nevada
Credentials: MAAA, FSA, FCA

Annette James currently chairs the Academy’s Health Equity Work Group (HEWG), which was established to study health equity, assess whether actuarial practice may be perpetuating or contributing to health disparities, and facilitate solutions to health disparities. The HEWG is exploring how health inequity may be a quantifiable risk that is currently not recognized or measured. The HEWG is also examining the many ways in which data and algorithms are used in the health care and health insurance systems and assessing the appropriateness of their use.

Annette also served for six years (2015–2020) as a member of the Health Committee of the Actuarial Standards Board and has served on Academy committees and work groups focused on various aspects of health care.

Annette has devoted many years to public service, serving as lead actuary for the Nevada Division of Insurance for 14 years (2006–2020), where she was a key member of a multiagency task force charged with implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Nevada and led Nevada’s review of options to stabilize the ACA market. Prior to her regulatory role, Annette was an employee benefits consulting actuary.

She is currently a principal with NovaRest, Inc., an actuarial consulting firm that focuses primarily on providing health actuarial services to state and federal agencies. She is a well-respected speaker on topics relating to health insurance, regulation, and professionalism and has authored professional articles on topics ranging from the ACA to the future of insurance. While a regulator, Annette provided expert testimony at the Nevada state legislature and represented the state on various committees of the NAIC.

The Academy’s mission is to serve the public and the U.S. actuarial profession. How will your service on the Board allow you to further the Academy’s mission of public policy and professionalism?

With my combination of regulatory and consulting professional experience, as well as my extensive volunteer experience, I bring a uniquely informed perspective to the Academy’s mission of serving the public that is right for this moment.

I have firsthand experience of the impact that actuaries can have on public policy and believe that the Academy’s mission of providing leadership through independent, unbiased actuarial expertise and advice to policymakers is critical, not only to the public, but to the future of this profession.

My six years as a member of the Health Committee of the Actuarial Standards Board made me appreciate that the goals of furthering the public policy and professionalism missions of the Academy are inextricably intertwined. My tenure with the Health Practice Council’s Health Equity Work Group has allowed me to lead with humility and compassion as we work to ensure that the actuarial profession contributes to solutions to health inequity by first looking internally at ways that our actuarial practices may perpetuate or exacerbate health disparities.

As a Board member, I will support and bolster the Academy’s efforts to effectively address the complex array of issues facing the profession that require a combination of technical, social, professional, and public policy solutions. 

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