The Academy’s office will be closed on Monday, Jan. 18, in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday.
Academy Releases Attestation Form
The Academy launched its U.S. Qualification Standards Attestation Form, a new and innovative tool enabling actuaries to voluntarily demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the U.S. Qualification Standards (USQS) for signing statements of actuarial opinion (SAOs) on life, health, and property/casualty NAIC annual statements. Academy members can go to attest.actuary.org and log in with their Academy credentials to access the Attestation Form.
Academy Immediate Past President Mary D. Miller noted that it took a coordinated “team effort” to bring the form to fruition. Since its founding, “the Academy has shaped the strict standards by which actuaries operate,” Miller said. “This new tool is another significant step in the Academy’s ongoing mission to ensure actuaries meet the highest standards of professionalism, and maintain high levels of public trust and confidence.”
2015 Legislative/Regulatory Review Alert
The Academy released its 2015 year-in-review alert with a comprehensive summary of significant regulatory and legislative events last year at the state, federal, and international levels that were of interest to the U.S. actuarial profession, and recaps the Academy’s efforts in the past year in addressing these key areas. Topics of interest include climate change, price optimization, ACA implementation, Medicare, principle-based reserving, Social Security, international insurance capital standards, and many more.
The Academy was invited by Canada’s Actuarial Students National Association (ASNA) to participate in its 2016 convention in Niagara Falls, Ontario, last weekend. ASNA has existed for over 30 years, and more than 600 students attended the convention. Academy President Tom Wildsmith and Academy staff gave a presentation on “What You Need to Know about Qualifications in the United States”; Senior Policy Analyst Claire Mickelson gave the same presentation in French, a gesture that was well received by the bilingual audience. The Academy representatives answered questions on the Academy’s essential role as the U.S. national association in establishing standards of conduct, practice, and qualification for actuaries practicing in the United States. They also encouraged students interested in practicing in the United States to be aware of the need to comply with applicable U.S. standards, and hosted an exhibit booth where Wildsmith and staff answered questions and provided information and materials about the Academy and membership.
Academy Past President Tom Terry (2013-14) spoke on “Professionalism: Meeting High Expectations in a Fast-Changing World” at the Chicago Actuarial Association meeting on Monday. Terry provided an overview of new practice challenges for actuaries, risks to the U.S. profession, the Academy’s day-to-day professionalism activities, and a “top 10” list of professionalism topics for U.S. actuaries in 2016.
L/H Valuation Law Manual, P/C Loss Reserve Law Manual Available to Order
The 2016 Life & Health Valuation Law Manual—designed to help appointed life and health actuaries comply with the requirements of the NAIC model Standard Valuation Law and the Model Actuarial Opinion and Memorandum Regulation—is available to order. It includes a current-topics section outlining key valuation developments and state guidance; NAIC model laws and regulations that have an effect on reserve calculations; a discussion of generally distributed interpretations; and copies of the current actuarial guidelines from the NAIC Examiners Handbook. The manual, which will be available soon, is available to order in a variety of formats.
The Academy’s 2015 Property/Casualty Loss Reserve Law Manual is available for order. Updated annually and designed to help appointed property/casualty (P/C) actuaries comply with NAIC annual statement requirements, the manual includes SAO requirements and state laws and regulations establishing those requirements; annual statement instructions for the SAOs for P/C, title loss, and loss expense reserves; and other pertinent annual statement instructions. It is available in two formats—web/online or CD-ROM. Members can order online by logging in to Academy’s website, or orders also may be placed via mail/fax.
For questions or additional information on either manual, please contact Leiloni Hayward, public policy senior administrative assistant, at 202-223-8196 or hayward@actuary.org.
Dues Reminder
Academy membership dues are due Jan. 1 each year. Click here to conveniently pay online. Log in now to pay your dues, print your invoice, or update your profile.
HealthCheck Released
The January issue of HealthCheck, released Wednesday, covers the Academy’s Risk Sharing Subcommittee’s comments to the Department of Health and Human Services on a proposed rule on benefit and payment parameters for 2017; the Premium Review Work Group’s practice note on rate filing requirements related to the unified rate review template and actuarial memorandum; President Obama’s veto of a bill that would have overturned the ACA; and a preview of upcoming Academy health care webinars.
Webinar Looks at P/C Loss Reserves Practice Note
Thursday’s webinar, “Keeping Current: Changes to the 2015 SAO P/C Loss Reserves Practice Note,” drew attendees from about 400 sites, who heard presentations on and asked questions about the Academy’s recently released 2015 Statement of Actuarial Opinion P/C Loss Reserves practice note, which was revised to improve its format and presentation. “A lot of thought went into the new and improved practice note, and we had a very structured approach to the rewrite,” said Kathy Odomirok, a presenter and vice chairperson of the Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting. The webinar, hosted jointly by the Academy’s Casualty Practice Council and the Casualty Actuarial Society, offered information on how to keep up to date with the latest NAIC instructions and highlighted practices related to preparing SAOs.
Upcoming Events
“ORSA: A Short Duration Health Perspective”: A Jan. 25 webinar will provide an overview on how actuaries can add value to an Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) and illustrate Operational Risk Management (ORM) practices. A perspective on how regulators approach ORSA will also be presented, along with a regulatory standpoint on insights from the ORSA pilot and feedback. Presenters will describe the basics of ORSA, including the purpose, process, and the actual report, as well as the trends driving ORM practices. Cybersecurity threats will also be discussed. Register now.
“An International Discussion on Risk Adjustment”: The European Risk Adjustment Network (RAN) is an informal annual gathering of risk adjustment experts (academic and governmental) from several European countries and Israel who meet to exchange ideas on the latest research in applied risk adjustment. These insights provide relevant lessons to other countries that have evolved a risk adjustment mechanism for their health care programs. The Academy’s Health Practice International Committee and the International Actuarial Association Health Section are pleased to offer a webinar that provides members with a look at the information coming out of this annual meeting. Panelists will provide a report on the discussions, including specific reports from each country in Europe that can be applied to the ACA’s risk adjustment program implemented recently in the United States. This Jan. 27 webinar is free for Academy members—register now.
“CMS Discussion of National Health Spending in 2014”: Panelists from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will discuss their recent findings regarding national health spending. This Feb. 4 webinar is also free to Academy members; click here for more information and to register.
In the News
Several media outlets noted that President Obama called on Congress to strengthen Social Security and Medicare in his final State of the Union address on Tuesday, as the Academy had urged policymakers to address retirement and health security issues.
Bankrate Retirement Blogquoted Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello, who provided context on the importance and the difficulty of the policymakers’ challenge. “We must make sure that [Medicare] continues to pay providers and keeps costs low, giving beneficiaries access to affordable care,” Uccello said.
In a story that reported on the Academy’s call for a renewed national focus on retirement and health security, BenefitsProhighlighted the Academy’s Lifetime Income Initiative, which offers information and analysis to policymakers and the public on longevity risks. Visit the Aging Securely page for more information on this and other Academy aging initiatives.
The Australian magazine Actuaries Digitalpublished a summary of the November/December Contingencies cover story, “Rising Tides,” with a focus on how climate risks will affect insurance and land use policy in Australia.
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