Academy members reacted very positively to the recent release of the U.S. Qualification Standards Attestation Form, which actuaries can use to voluntarily demonstrate they meet the requirements of the U.S. Qualification Standards (USQS) needed for signing statements of actuarial opinion (SAOs) on life, health, and property/casualty NAIC annual statements. The Academy membership has responded favorably to the release of this new membership benefit; within days of the announcement of the release of this tool more than 500 people had accessed the form. The Academy has also received a number of favorable comments from members and some regulators.
Academy members can log in with their Academy credentials to access the Attestation Form and find frequently asked questions.
Academy Names Ted Goldman Senior Pension Fellow
The Academy announced Friday that Ted Goldman, an actuary with more than 35 years of retirement consulting experience, will be its new senior pension fellow. Goldman will help shape and communicate the Academy’s work on pension, Social Security, and other retirement security issues to the public, policymakers, and the news media.
Goldman spent the majority of his career with Towers Perrin (16 years) and Mercer (15 years), leading retirement practices in Houston and Washington, D.C. He was most recently the leader of the U.S. retirement team with Buck Consultants in Washington, D.C.
“It’s more important than ever that objective actuarial considerations guide the discussions and public debates surrounding retirement security, and I look forward to providing that perspective to support the Academy’s public interest mission,” Goldman said.
The Academy’s professionalism outreach is off to a strong start in 2016. Following last week’s professionalism presentations in Canada and Chicago, Academy representatives made presentations in Michigan and Nebraska this week. Council on Professionalism member Kevin Dyke, chief actuary of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, spoke to the Michigan Actuarial Society in Livonia on Wednesday, on the Academy’s extensive liaison with the NAIC regarding public policy issues, technical advice, and actuarial professionalism issues. He noted the ways the Academy has responded to regulators’ concerns and questions about qualification and discipline issues, the most recent of which is the development of the Academy’s new USQS attestation form mentioned above.
Also on Wednesday, Academy Past President Cecil Bykerk (2012-13) provided an overview of the Academy’s professionalism activities to the Nebraska Actuaries Club in Omaha. Bykerk gave a high-level summary of the Code of Professional Conduct; the role and activities of the Actuarial Standards Board and the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline; and discussed the history, benefits, and release of the Attestation Form.
The Academy’s holiday greeting offered all a pocket-sized copy of the Code of Professional Conduct. We are fulfilling over 1,500 requests for the booklet. It’s not too late—if you would like to obtain a copy, please click here.
Public Policy Activities
The LTC Principle-Based Reserves Work Group sent its final report on a principle-based approach model to the NAIC’s Long-Term Care Actuarial Working Group.
The Individual Disability Tables Work Group sent its final report on a recommended new statutory valuation standard basis for morbidity to the NAIC’s Health Actuarial Task Force.
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 is available to order in a variety of formats.
The Academy’s 2015 Property/Casualty Loss Reserve Law Manual is now available. 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.
Upcoming Events
“ORSA: A Short Duration Health Perspective”: This Jan. 25 webinar will provide an overview on how actuaries can add value to an Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) and also 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
Academy Pension Committee Chairperson Ellen Kleinstuber commented on the risks and complexities facing pension plan participants who are offered a lump sum, for a widely read New York Timespersonal finance column. The column also notes: “The American Academy of Actuaries can arrange up to four hours of free pension help for people with questions. Its Pension Assistance List is available on its website.”
The launch of the Academy’s U.S. Qualification Standards Attestation Form was among the big life and health insurance news items listed in LifeHealthPro’s “paradigm shift news roundup” for the week.
BenefitsLink also covered the Academy’s release of the attestation form as a “new tool to help actuaries demonstrate qualifications.”
Martindale.com cited comments made by Mary Bahna-Nolan, chairperson of the Academy’s Life Experience Committee, at the NAIC Summer Meeting on life underwriting trends in a story regarding the impact of big data on insurance underwriting.
BenefitsLinkreported that the “Gray Book,” a compendium of questions posed by actuaries and answered by the IRS, will no longer be produced. The Academy and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries helped organize questions and proposed responses for the annually released book.
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