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Breakout Sessions

Health Breakout Sessions

Addressing the Risk of Medicare Insolvency (Thursday, Nov. 4, 11:45 to 1 p.m.)

Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund is just a few years from insolvency. Panelists in this session will highlight Medicare’s financial challenges and provide a range of possible options to address those challenges.

Speakers:

• Suzanne Codespote
  Deputy Director of the Medicare and Medicaid Cost Estimates Group, CMS Office of the Actuary

• Gretchen Jacobson
  Vice President, Medicare, The Commonwealth Fund

• Marc Goldwein
  Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

Regulating the Affordable Care Act (ACA): What’s New for 2022 (Thursday, Nov. 4, 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.)

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.

Moderator:

• Joyce E. Bohl,  MAAA, ASA, Chairperson, Individual Markets and Small Group Markets Committee

Speakers:

• Brent Plemons 
  Director, Office of Special Initiatives and Operations, CCIIO, CMS
• Jeff Wu
  Deputy Director for Policy, CCIIO
• Lina Choudhry Rashid
  Senior Policy Advisor for the Deputy Director, CCII
• Allison Yadsko
  Deputy Director of the Division of Policy and Analysis within the Financial Management Group , CCIIO

Expanding Access to Health Insurance Coverage (Friday, Nov. 5, 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.)

Although the Affordable Care Act increased access to health insurance, millions of Americans remain uninsured, including many who are eligible for free or low-cost coverage. Panelists in this session will provide an overview of who the remaining uninsured are and discuss current efforts and options to increase insurance coverage among the currently uninsured.

Moderator: 

Al Bingham, MAAA, FSA
Vice President, Professionalism
Chairperson, Risk Sharing Subcommittee

Speakers:

• Jennifer Tolbert
  Director of State Health Reform and Associate Director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Kaiser Family Foundation

• Sabrina Corlette
  Research Professor, Founder, and Co-Director, Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy

• James Capretta
  Senior Fellow and Milton Friedman Chair, American Enterprise Institute

Life Breakout Sessions

Updates on Emerging Issues in the Use of Reinsurance Structures in the Acquisition of Life Insurance and Annuity Business (Thursday, Nov. 4, 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

This session will provide an examination of the emerging developments in the sale of life insurance and annuity business to private equity firms through the use of reinsurance, sidecars, and other vehicles. This session will explore how the risks/returns change along with the potential impact on policyholders and regulators. 

Moderator:

• Ben Slutsker, MAAA, FSA
  Incoming Vice President, Academy Life Practice Council

 

Speakers:

• Laura Bazer, MBA
  Moody’s Investors Service, Vice President-Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Life & Health Insurance Group
• Melanie Dunn
  Oliver Wyman 
• Amie Zhu, FSA, CFA
  Vice President, Life Pricing, Fortitude Re 

A Discussion of Long-Term Care Insurance From The Life Perspective (Thursday, Nov. 4, 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.)

This session will feature a discussion among experts and regulators on the elements of long-term care insurance in the life insurance space including developments in combination products, principle-based reserving and more.

Speakers:

• Fred Andersen, MAAA, FSA
• Paul Lombardo, MAAA, ASA
• Rob Eaton, MAAA, FSA
  Chairperson, LTC Combo Product Valuation Practice Note Work Group

Moderator:

• Linda Lankowski, MAAA, FSA
  Chairperson, PBR Strategy Subgroup

A Look Into Index-Linked Variable Annuities (Friday, Nov. 5, 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.)

This session will provide an in-depth perspective of how index-linked variable annuities are playing a role in life insurance, and hear from experts on the future of these products.

Speakers:

• Ryan Berends, MAAA, FSA
• Dodie Kent
  Partner, Eversheds Sutherland

• Pete Weber, MAAA, FSA
  Member, Life Practice Council
  Regular Director, Board of Directors

Moderator:

• Laura Hanson, MAAA, FSA
  Vice President, Life

Pension Breakout Sessions

Smoothing Your Way to Increased Revenue–A Pension Success Story? (Thursday, Nov. 4, 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

The Pension Protection Act was enacted in 2006 and came into force amidst the brewing financial crisis.  Since that time, the law has been adjusted to provide employers more flexibility in funding at least six times—the most recent of which being the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) of 2021.  The majority of these changes have resulted in increased interest rates, increased amortization periods, or both.  Many have come with higher PBGC premiums, as well.  Some employers continue to call for relaxing funding standards and lower PBGC premiums noting the system, at the moment, appears quite healthy.  Others decry the watering down of participant security resulting from reduced, required contributions and the, possibly, illusory revenue increases claimed by enacting these funding relief provisions.

Moderator:

• Tim Geddes, MAAA, FSA, FCA, EA
  Vice President, Pension
   

Speakers:

• Bill Hoagland
  Senior Vice President, Bipartisan Policy Center

• Chantel Sheaks
  Vice President of Retirement Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

• J. Mark Iwry
  Nonresident Senior Fellow—Economic Studies, Brookings Institute

The Multiemployer Pension System after PBGC Special Financial Assistance (Thursday, Nov. 4, 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.)

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 authorizes the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to provide special financial assistance (SFA) to eligible multiemployer plans with solvency issues.  Just a year ago, the multiemployer pension system was facing an imminent solvency crisis, and PBGC’s multiemployer insurance program itself was projected to become insolvent in 2026.  The SFA program will significantly delay the solvency crisis, but it is not a permanent solution.  Even after receiving SFA, many eligible plans will still be projected to become insolvent – though not for more than 20 years or more.

We will review the process for how the SFA program became law and they key points from PBGC guidance released in July.  We will also discuss issues various groups have raised regarding perceived shortcomings in the program and how they might be addressed.  Finally, we will take a look at the future of the multiemployer pension system and what further reforms could help avoid a new solvency crisis.

Moderator:

• Jason Russell, MAAA, FSA, EA
  Vice Chairperson, Pension Practice Council

Speakers:

• Kendra Isaacon
  Senior Pensions Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions

• Jamie Cummins
  Tax Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

• Deva Kyle
  Counsel, Bredhoff & Kaiser PLLC

Funding Policies for Public Plans (Friday, Nov. 5, 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.)

Since public sector pension plans are not subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, funding requirements are vastly different for public plans, both when compared to private sector pension plans and multiemployer pension plans, as well as amongst themselves.  In this session, we will provide a general overview of the different ways public plans are funded in the United States and discuss the consequences of the current funding structures in place.  Drawing on lessons from the private sector and multiemployer plans’ funding regulations, we will then explore various funding policies that could be adopted to maintain the sustainability of public plans, the importance of such adoption, and also some potential issues of such adoption.

Moderator:

• Sherry S. Chan, MAAA, FSA, FCA, EA
  Vice Chairperson, Pension Practice Council

Speakers:

• Mike Townsend
  System Administrator, Public Safety Personnel Retirement System of Arizona

• John Liu
  New York State Senator

• Alex Brown
  Research Manager, National Association of State Retirement Administrators

Property/Casualty Breakout Sessions

Affordability in Auto Insurance (Thursday, Nov. 4, 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

This session will discuss factors that affect affordability of auto insurance, and will specifically look at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) recent request for information to update their 2017 Affordability Study and what that might mean for automobile insurers and policy holders going forward.

Speakers:

• Kevin Dyke, MAAA, FCAS
  Chief Actuary, Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services
  Member, Automobile Insurance Committee
  Member, P/C Racial Equity Task Force

• Roosevelt Mosley, MAAA, FCAS
  Principal and Consulting Actuary, Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc.
  Member, P/C Racial Equity Task Force
  Member, Data Science and Analytics Committee

Moderator

• Jared Smollik, MAAA, FCAS, CPCU, CERA 
  Vice President of Personal Lines Core Products, Verisk

Wildfire Risk: Still a Hot Topic (Thursday, Nov. 4, 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.)

This session will look at the current effects of recent wildfire seasons, some of the most costly and destructive on record, on the insurance industry and potential public policy  responses now, and what it could mean for years to come.

Speakers:

• Dave Evans, MAAA, FCAS
  Consulting Actuary, Milliman
  Member, P/C Extreme Events and Property Lines Committee

• Howard Kunst, MAAA, FCAS
  Chief Actuary, CoreLogic
  Member, P/C Extreme Events and Property Lines Committee

Moderator:

• Shawna Ackerman, MAAA, FCAS
  Chief Risk and Actuarial Officer, California Earthquake Authority
  Penultimate Past President, American Academy of Actuaries

Impact of Telehealth on Workers’ Compensation (Friday, Nov. 5, 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.)

This session will explore what the increased utilization of telehealth means from the perspective of injured workers, their employers, and insurers.

Speakers:

• Paul Buffone
  Senior Vice President and Chief Claims Officer, Louisiana Workers'​ Compensation Corporation

• Tim Mosler, MAAA, FCAS
  Principal and Consulting Actuary, Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc.
  Member, Workers’ Compensation Committee

• Anthony Bustillo, MAAA, FCAS
  Lead ERM Actuary, Safety National
  Member, Workers’ Compensation Committee

Moderator:

• Kevin Bingham, MAAA, ACAS, CSPA
  Chief Results Officer, Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company
  Member, Workers’ Compensation Committee