Health Volunteers Meet With Federal Lawmakers, Policymakers in Annual ‘Hill Visits’
HPC volunteers meet with Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) on Thursday
Academy Health Practice Council volunteers visited federal lawmakers and policymakers Feb. 27–28 for their annual “Hill visits” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. More than 20 volunteers visited nearly two dozen congressional offices, meeting with lawmakers and federal agencies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), the Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service.
“With so many health policy issues being debated in Washington, D.C., we’re pleased to have had constructive discussions on a range of topics with policymakers and agencies,” said Audrey Halvorson, Academy vice president, health. “The Academy’s reputation as a nonpartisan source of information is highly valued on Capitol Hill and by federal regulatory agencies.”
Academy Volunteers—Don’t Forget to Submit Your COI/CE Acknowledgments
Academy members who serve on Academy boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, task forces, and work groups are required to annually acknowledge the existing Conflict of Interest (COI) policy that applies to all who participate in Academy work. In addition, attestation of continuing education (CE) compliance requirements of the U.S. Qualification Standards is required for all member volunteers as an essential component to protect the Academy’s commitment to being an effective and objective resource for actuarial information.
Required Action Steps:Log in to the Academy membership page; click the “COI and CE Acknowledgment” link in the right column; read and “sign” the acknowledgments by clicking on the check boxes for each question; and click (just once) the “Submit acknowledgment for both” button.
ACI Updated With Latest Data
The Actuaries Climate Index’s (ACI) five-year moving average reached a new high for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to the latest data release that includes summer 2019. After reaching a value of 1.18 in spring 2019 (revised upward from 1.16 due to data updates), the ACI’s five-year moving average stands at 1.20. The ACI is sponsored by the Academy, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, and the Society of Actuaries. Read the news release.
Life Webinar Covers ‘Separate Account Products’
The Academy’s Life Practice Council (LPC) hosted Tuesday’s webinar, “Separate Account Products,” which gave attendees information about the use of separate accounts in insurance products. LPC Vice President Laura Hanson moderated the discussion, and presenters were Academy President-Elect Tom Campbell; Frank O’Connor, vice president of research and outreach, Insured Retirement Institute; and Antonio Rosa, director of external reporting, Talcott Resolution. “There have been a lot of questions about the many uses of separate accounts and how companies treat those accounts from a regulatory and an accounting perspective, so the webinar was a good opportunity to go over the basics and discuss some of the practices that we have seen so far,” Campbell said after the webinar. Slides and audio are available free for Academy members.
Public Policy Outreach
Academy presenters delivered three concurrent public policy presentations in different practice areas at Tuesday’s meeting of the Actuaries Club of Philadelphia. Secretary-Treasurer Cathy Murphy-Barron presented a session on “Deciphering the Different Options to Expand Public Coverage” that highlighted the key design elements that proposals to expand public health care coverage need to specify to be fully evaluated and implemented, and provided an update on federal and state legislative and presidential candidate expansion proposals. In “The Economics of Social Security,” Social Security Committee member Jerry Mingione provided an overview of Social Security’s financial position, key drivers of the program’s financing, the rationales and outcomes of the 1983 program reform, and potential changes to make the system sustainable and use the trust funds more effectively. PBR Analysis Templates Task Force member Rachel Hochberg and Academy member Shari Brockett presented a “PBR Assumptions Resource Manual Introduction,” discussing how the manual published in January 2019 provides a potential framework for updating valuation assumptions and walking through a term lapse margin case study.
Recently Released
The February Actuarial Update released today covers this week’s visits to Capitol Hill by Health Practice Council volunteers in more depth, as well as the opportunity to submit nominations for regular directors on the Academy Board, public policy outreach, and the “Professionalism Counts” column that focuses on Precept 3 of the Code of Professional Conduct.
The Winter Retirement Report includes an in-depth Q&A about the recently passed SECURE Act and the new law’s implications on retirement security and pensions. Also in the issue, a preview of the Pension Practice Council’s upcoming webinar series on retirement plan coverage, a preview of the upcoming 2020 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting, and legislative and regulatory updates.
Public Policy Activity
The Life Reinsurance Work Group sent a comment letter to the NAIC Reinsurance (E) Task Force regarding the task force’s exposed memorandum, which requested comments on whether compliance with Actuarial Guideline XLVIII (AG 48) should be considered to be “substantially similar” to Model #787 under the NAIC Financial Standards and Accreditation Program.
The Casualty Practice Councilsubmitted comments to the Actuarial Standards Board regarding a proposed new actuarial standard of practice on rate-filing by property/casualty insurers.
The Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s Statutory Accounting Principles (E) Working Group regarding Schedule P instructions for retroactive reinsurance between affiliates and non-affiliates.
Upcoming Events
“Focus on Multiemployer Plans”—March 24, pension webinar (registration opening soon)
Enrolled Actuaries Meeting, March 29–April 1, Washington, D.C. (discounted rates available through Feb. 29)
“Focus on Public Pension Plans”—April 23, pension webinar (registration opening soon)
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