Public Policy Webinars

Navigating the Cyber Risk Landscape: New and Emerging Work

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The cyber risk landscape continues to evolve. Members of the Academy’s Committee on Cyber Risk spoke about new and upcoming resources that provide valuable insights into the world of cyber risk.

Speakers shared key points from upcoming chapters to the Academy’s Cyber Risk Toolkit, including:

• "Personal Cyber: Insurance Product Mechanics and Characteristics";
• “SEC Cybersecurity Disclosure Requirements and Related Directors & Officers Liability Risks"; and
• "An Overview of the Global Cyber (Re)Insurance Market."

Rethinking the PBGC Premium Structure

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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) was created to encourage the continuation and maintenance of private-sector defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance premiums at a minimum. Yet high PBGC Premiums have been cited as an important contributor to the decline in single-employer sponsored pension plans. This webinar explored changes to the single-employer premium structure to better align with the PBGC’s mission. An overview of the differences in the single-employer and multiemployer programs was also be discussed.

ERISA at 50: Multiemployer Perspectives From the Past to the Future

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Join us for the latest webinar in the Academy’s ERISA at 50 Series. This webinar will address where ERISA got its start in the multiemployer retirement-plan space, and how it and the plans evolved.  Hear from a panel of experts who will discuss the unique features of multiemployer plans, the impact ERISA has had on them over time, and where reforms and the future may take us.

At the conclusion of this session, attendees will better understand the impact and influence ERISA has had on multiemployer retirement plans, as well as what to expect from the interaction of ERISA and those plans in the coming years.

Overview of CMS’ Final Rules for Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services, and Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released two final rules on April 22, 2024: Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services (Access final rule) and Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality (Managed Care final rule). During this webinar, attendees heard an overview of the two final rules, which will be of interest to actuaries who work with the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs.

Diamonds in the Rough: A Discussion of Lesser-Known Workers’ Compensation Resources for Actuaries

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Property/casualty actuaries involved in workers’ compensation are very familiar with broadly used data produced by rating bureaus such as the NCCI. There are, however, many additional resources that may be less well-known but are extremely valuable. This webinar discussed a variety of these resources, with panelists from the Workers Compensation Research Institute, the New York Workers’ Compensation Board, and the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.

Church-Sponsored Retirement Plans: Plan Considerations and Issues Around PBGC Eligibility

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This webinar will review two recently issued publications: the Academy’s issue brief, Church-Sponsored Retirement Plans--Overview and Considerations, and the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report Improved Communication Needed on Church Plan Eligibility for Federal Insurance Coverage. The impact of being a participant in a church-sponsored plan will be discussed as well as governance and fiduciary responsibilities, funding approaches, and the impact of bankruptcy or termination on participants. GAO representatives will provide highlights of their report, including data available on church plans and federal and state roles regarding church plans.

Update on the NAIC Generator of Economic Scenarios (GOES) Project

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Hear an update on the NAIC Generator of Economic Scenarios (GOES) Project, the NAIC's transition from the Academy's Interest Rate Generator (AIRG) to a new economic scenario generator. Speakers shared the latest on the project, now in its fourth year, and discussed some of the remaining decision points and challenges the project faces. 

Detailed discussion topics include: 

• Update on NAIC project and model office and field test results/status. 
• Overview of the approach the NAIC is taking in terms of targeting criteria and evaluation criteria. Definition of low-for-long model requirements.  
• Review of sample economic statistics based on the targeting criteria. Insights into how the targeting criteria are implemented and how the models perform against the evaluation criteria.  
• Issues in the use of complex models with limited documentation, the output from which is unreproducible. Context and discussion of the Academy simplified corporate model as an example of how actuaries can develop a financial model. 
• Summary of remaining steps and decision points in the GOES project. 

Drivers of 2025 Health Insurance Premium Changes

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Health insurers have submitted proposed premiums for 2025. When developing those rates, they considered a range of factors that could cause premiums for the next year to differ from this year’s. In this virtual briefing, members of the Individual and Small Group Markets Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Health Practice Council highlighted these factors and discussed their potential effects on premiums.

Factors explored include:

• Resumption of Medicaid eligibility redeterminations;
• The shift of small groups from fully insured plans to other funding arrangements;
• Coverage of GLP1s and gene therapies; and
• Inflation.

Expert Panel Discusses Terrorism and Cyber Insurance Modeling and Underwriting Challenges

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The U.S. Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated a new Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) that will stimulate research and develop solutions to provide insurers, government, and other stakeholders with additional data and improved modeling and underwriting tools, methodologies, and practices for insuring terrorism and catastrophic cyber risks. FIO and NSF released a request for research proposals in April 2024.

Update on Proposed Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers on Terrorism and Catastrophic Cyber Insurance

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Learn about the proposed Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) for terrorism and catastrophic cyber risk insurance modeling and underwriting during this webinar, which features speakers from the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF has issued a call for proposals for "Research and Thought Leadership on Insurance Risk Modeling and Underwriting Related to Terrorism and Catastrophic Cyber Risks." Academic teams interested in submitting research proposals will have an opportunity to ask questions, as will those from industry interested in sponsoring research.  

At the conclusion of this webinar, attendees: 

• Understand some of the major issues challenging insurers to model terrorism and catastrophic cyber risk; 
• Understand how the IUCRC will operate; and 
• Have some ideas of topics which they would find useful if researched within the IUCRC.