By Katie Dzurec
Director, Public Policy Outreach
The annual National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislative Summit is a key event for the Academy. A slightly different event than our normal summer line-up, much of the summit serves as an opportunity to listen as we engage with legislators, their staff, and stakeholders who convene to share ideas, identify priorities, and think about solutions.
Held in July, the summit coincides with the Academy’s summer planning sessions. This is a happy coincidence as the presentations and conversations largely echoed the public policy themes that are top of mind for the Academy. Our summer planning sessions give each practice council an opportunity to identify key priorities and stakeholders for further engagement in the upcoming year. The summit signaled that the discussions our practice councils are having are in sync with those at NCSL.
The most common theme among the sessions was affordability. Across sectors, events are taking place that feature sweeping uncertainties that demand true innovation from policymakers. This drove much discussion and brainstorming among summit attendees, whether legislators, regulators, industry representatives, or advocates. What struck me most was the fact that affordability is one of the Academy’s mega issues and has been a key focus for every practice council and the research team.
Two sessions covered affordability in the U.S. health coverage landscape, focusing on balancing Medicaid budgets and the biggest impact that federal Medicaid policy changes, as well as commercial health insurance and the levers that states have to address federal regulatory changes. During the Medicaid session, implementing federal changes to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was identified as having the most impact on respondents, more than changes to financing, cost growth, and state budgeting. While the commercial health session noted the need to think differently about the full health care landscape and the idea that while secondary effects of OBBBA are shifting risk pools and uncompensated care, they are also creating opportunities for new partnerships.
Helping to connect the actuarial dots for state legislators can be a challenge at times. Clearly, they are seeing the same issues that we are and are interested in the resources and expertise we can bring to the table. From an Academy planning perspective, we are focusing on how the Academy can help inform the innovative policy approaches discussed at NCSL. The Health Practice Council’s 2025 health insurance market dynamics resource guide highlights the interconnectedness in the health insurance landscape, as well as factors that influence risk pools, enrollment, and premium trends. Similarly, the Health Equity Committee’s Broadening the Focus initiative is likely to help encourage even more conversations between state legislators and Academy volunteers.
On the casualty front, a session on what comes next in auto insurance focused on uncertainty, affordability challenges, and solutions through oversight and transparency. https://actuary.org/resources/casualty-brief-potential-bias-in-marketing-and-underwriting-practices-in-property-and-casualty-insurance/Panelists highlighted the value of transparency when trying to help consumers understand the need for auto insurance along with the importance of education and outreach programs to support informed policy decisions—both when shopping and when it’s time to file a claim. This is echoed in the CPC’s Auto Insurance Committee presentation, Cost Drivers in Automobile Insurance.
While most sessions didn’t focus on artificial intelligence (AI), it wasn’t ignored. Indeed, Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton spoke on the promise and peril of AI, flagging elements of uncertainty and oversight. While he didn’t give specific recommendations, Hinton’s provocative questions offer some additional considerations for RMFRC’s AI, Data Science, and Analytics Committee (ADAC) and serve a reminder that, while AI offers many positives for core insurance operations, the need to maintain oversight and ensure alignment persists—a point noted in ADAC’s recent issue brief, AI Use Cases in Insurance and Pension.
Regardless of the sessions that are on the agenda, hallway conversations at the summit are rife with opportunities to plug Academy work products. This summit is one of my favorite events for sharing Academy resources with the priority stakeholders that the Board and our policy practice councils are focused on. Finding out what they need as we develop projects and publications means the work that we do will impact our communities and the industry in which we work. This summit offers us the chance to build new partnerships, strengthen existing relationships, and better understand what policymakers and decisionmakers are focused on as we develop our own priorities for a post-midterm election world.