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Academy News

• Academy Senior Pension Fellow Don Fuerst participated in an invitation-only meeting on Tuesday for staff members, from both parties, for key House and Senate committees to brief them on pending pension funding stabilization legislation.

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• The Medical Loss Ratio Work Group sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services offering comments on the revised annual reporting form, specifically on the definition of premiums, contract reserves, and the definition of pre-tax underwriting gain/(loss).

• The Pension Committee submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service regarding proposed regulations for partial annuity distribution options under defined benefit pension plans.

• The Pension Practice Council submitted a letter to members of the House-Senate Conference Committee commenting on the pension funding stabilization provisions included in S. 1813 as passed by the Senate.

• The Academy submitted comments to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) on its draft white paper on the Solvency Modernization Initiative and insurance regulation and offered suggestions encompassing Risk-Based Capital (RBC), Own Risk and Solvency Assessment, and the NAIC model laws.

• The Financial Regulatory Reform Task Force provided comments to the Federal Reserve on its proposed rule establishing additional prudential standards for non-bank financial service companies identified by the Financial Stability Oversight Council as companies that could pose systemic risk.

• The Committee on Property & Liability Financial Reporting submitted comments to the NAIC’s Blanks Working Group on its proposed 2012 Actuarial Opinion Instructions.

• The C1 Work Group submitted a report and delivered a presentation regarding C1 RBC model construction and development of basic C1 Bond Factors to the NAIC C1 Factor Review Subgroup.

Member Alerts

• Health Insurance Issues: The Academy’s Long-Term Care Practice Note Work Group released for comment an update of the 2003 practice note on long-term care rate stability. Log in to read the full alert.

Media Coverage

• Academy Senior Pension Fellow Don Fuerst was called on by Pensions & Investments to comment on Ford’s retiree pension buyout and the likelihood that more corporations would do something similar in the future.

• LifeHealthPro cited the Academy for its work with NAIC’s Life Actuarial Task Force in developing new life reserve standard, VM-20.

• Pension committee member Ellen Kleinstuber spoke to Reuters about the choices employees of Ford and other companies face when offered a lump-sum pension buyout.

News Releases

• Actuaries weigh in on the best way to stabilize pension plan funding after two years of low interest rates.

Recently Released Publications

• April Actuarial Update: Read about the 2012 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting and Pension Symposium, staff changes at the ABCD, plus updates on other recent Academy activities.

• May/June Contingencies: Do our brains favor stories over statistics? Find out what cognitive scientists have uncovered and what it means for actuaries in the latest issue.

• Have you reserved your spot for the 2012 Life and Health Qualifications Seminar? Register today to guarantee your seat at this primary source of instruction for actuaries who wish to be qualified to issue actuarial opinions for either the NAIC Life and A&H Annual Statement or the NAIC Health Annual Statement.

Reminders

• Nominations for the Academy’s annual awards are still open. The Jarvis Farley Service Award honors an Academy member who has made an extraordinary contribution to the profession through long-time service as an Academy volunteer. The Robert J. Myers Public Service Award recognizes members for their public service achievements or a career devoted to public service. The Awards for Outstanding Volunteerism are awarded to Academy volunteers who have made a single, noteworthy contribution above and beyond what is reasonably expected.

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