Chicago Was Academy’s Kinda Town to Talk Policy at NAIC

By Geralyn Trujillo 
Senior Director, Public Policy

08/27/24

The Windy City was preparing for an onslaught of excited and engaged individuals this month—although it may not have been whom most of America was thinking about. While more national attention was focused on the activities of the Democratic National Convention in mid-August, the Academy was preparing for the NAIC’s Summer National Meeting in Chicago. 

As we’ve previously talked about, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) meets three times a year to focus on the regulation of insurance in the states and across practice lines. Once again, the Academy was there to help open the meeting and participate in several key sessions that highlighted not only the role of actuaries in the development of sound insurance policy, but also the range of public policy issues that we are actively engaged in. 

Not only was the profession represented in Chicago—thanks to presentations by the Committee on Qualifications, Actuarial Standards Board, and Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline—but there was plenty of time for networking and socializing. Once again, the Academy hosted a joint practice-area dinner. Volunteers dined with regulators, NAIC staff, trade association representatives (including NAMIC, AHIP, and ACLI), and other key external stakeholders—enjoying a casual evening before the rush of receptions, meetings, and breakfast sessions. 

As Academy staff details in greater detail on the post-NAIC recap, available to watch on the Academy’s YouTube channel, the meeting in Chicago was full of key issues and opportunities for Academy volunteers to speak to regulators and other interested parties about the work we’ve been doing since March. Some highlights of what is shared on that recap include:    

• The Life Actuarial (A) Task Force discussed issues that included the field test of the NAIC’s Generator of Economic Scenarios (GOES) project—which the Academy discussed on a recent webinar—and negative interest maintenance reserves. There was a lot of interest and ongoing discussion of LATF’s asset adequacy testing for reinsurance, and the, Academy’s Life Practice Council continues to engage in the conversation with the regulators and other external stakeholders on the exposed proposals.   
• During the Health Actuarial (B) Task Force, regulators and interested parties heard a presentation by Cori Uccello, the Academy’s senior health fellow. Uccello, who was invited by the chair of the task force, spoke on the drivers of 2025 premium changes for products within the ACA market, highlighting the recent Academy issue brief and infographic.   
• The Casualty Actuarial and Statistical (C) Task Force met and discussed a variety of concerns, including the recent moratorium on submissions of new rate model filings to the NAIC’s Rate Model Review team. They also touched on private flood insurance supplement and personal flood insurance alien data reported to the NAIC’s International Insurance Department and exposed a drafted white paper appendix on penalized regression. 
• Academy leadership, represented by Lisa Slotznick, Darrell Knapp, and Rhonda Ahrens, presented to LATF and HATF. Following the Fall 2023 National Meeting, LATF asked the Academy to develop knowledge statements that outline the knowledge necessary for life actuaries signing certain statements of actuarial opinion, including the roles of appointed actuary, illustration actuary, and qualified actuary for principles-based reserves. Recognizing that similar knowledge statements were developed for CASTF several years ago, the Academy has drafted knowledge statements for appointed actuary roles for the blue blank filings (life) and the orange blank filings (health). The Academy has committed to finalizing drafts for both task forces by the Fall National Meeting.   
• The Health Equity Committee was represented by co-chairperson Annette James, who spoke to the Special (EX) Committee on Race and Insurance. James shared with the commissioners the work of the committee to date, highlighting the symposium and issue briefs that stemmed from the series of discussion groups in 2023. She spoke to the importance and limitations of data, evaluating benefits beyond simple costs, and ongoing regulatory issues. James also shared that the committee is focused on behavioral health and its intersections with health equity. 

As the regulators and the NAIC look ahead to the Fall National Meeting in Denver, the Academy is already hard at work developing strategies to address the ongoing projects and requests from regulators. Conversations around hot topics such as the Minnesota approach to a single long-term care insurance multistate rate review approach, risk-based capital calculations, shifting international priorities related to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and how to address the gaps in insurance—from product availability to financial literacy to the pipeline of the future insurance professionals—are just some of the agenda items for November’s meeting. 

The Academy will continue to engage and share its insights, expertise, and experience with the NAIC—and we welcome all our members to consider volunteering and joining us in Denver or at a future national meeting.