Public Policy Activities

• As rate-filing season kicked off, the Health Practice Council’s new issue brief, “Drivers of 2015 Health Insurance Premium Changes,” provided a timely perspective to the public and other health care system stakeholders on the reasons that 2015 premiums could differ from those in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “Premiums are currently being filed for 2015, but much of the uncertainty that insurers faced when developing their rates for 2014 still exists,” said Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello.
• The Property and Casualty Risk-Based Capital Committee submitted comments to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) on the Reinsurance Association of America’s updated proposal on credit risk factors.
• The Life Practice Council sent a comment letter to the NAIC Life Actuarial Task Force on the American Council of Life Insurers’ proposed small company exemption to VM-20.
• The ORSA Subgroup submitted comments to the NAIC’s Risk-Focused Surveillance Working Group on draft ORSA guidance that will be included in the Financial Analysis Handbook and the Financial Condition Examiners Handbook.

Opportunities to Learn

• Get an update on international developments in insurance accounting, financial and enterprise risk, capital standards, and related topics by attending the Academy’s May 23 webinar during which some of the International Actuarial Association’s (IAA) activities in these areas will be explored. William Hines, vice president of the Academy’s Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council, Dave Sandberg, former Academy president and former council vice president, and Tom Herget will present “The Latest Updates on IAA Insurance Accounting, Regulation, Enterprise and Financial Risk Activities.” Learn more and register now for this webinar, which may provide CE credit for attendees.
• Registration is now open for the May 29 “Academy Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” lunchtime guest webinar, “State of Exchanges.” Carrie Banahan, executive director of the Office of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, and Kevin Counihan, CEO of Access Health CT, will discuss the current status of state-run health exchanges, notable successes and challenges of these exchanges to date, and issues that may arise in the coming months. Learn more and register now.
• Save the date: June 26. Next month’s Council on Professionalism webinar, “Disclosure in the Real World:  ASOP No. 41 Case Studies,” will feature interactive discussion on the broad application of Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 41, Actuarial Communications, in various practice areas. Topics of the webinar, which will take place from noon to 1:00 p.m. ET, will include basic requirements for actuarial communication, required disclosures, how to deal with specific circumstances, and deviation from ASOP guidance.

Academy in the News

• Academy Senior Pension Fellow Donald Fuerst provided valuable pointers on how to read annual funding notices, including warning readers that funding information based on MAP-21 rates can be misleading, in interviews with both Forbes magazine and the Dallas Morning News.
• Uccello authored a blog posting on the Health Practice Council’s new issue brief on drivers of 2015 premium changes for the prominent Health Affairs Blog. A wide variety of outlets covered the publication of the brief, including Life and Health Advisor, Politico Pulse, The Morning Consult, InsuranceNewsNet, Inside Health Policy, BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, LifeHealthPro, and AHIP Coverage. Uccello elaborated on the factors affecting premium changes in a May 14 Vox.com article. Discussing the brief with Modern Healthcare magazine, Committee on Federal Health Issues Chairperson Cathy Murphy-Barron emphasized that rate filings must be understood in the context of the limited and state-specific information on which they are based.  
• Health Care Costs Work Group Chairperson Audrey Halvorson’s comments on risk pools were carried by CopaMonitor.com.
• The MV/AV Practice Note Work Group’s practice note, Minimum Value and Actuarial Value Determinations Under the Affordable Care Act, was praised as providing “useful background on two important concepts” of the ACA in an Employment Matters Blog posting.
• The Academy was cited in the Huffington Post blog posting, “The Best Mother's Day Gift We Can Give: A More Secure Social Security.”

News from the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB)

• The ASB recently approved ASOP No. 6, now titled Measuring Retiree Group Benefits Obligations and Determining Retiree Group Benefits Program Periodic Costs or Actuarially Determined Contributions. The standard takes effect for any actuarial work product with a measurement date on or after March 31, 2015, unless roll-forward techniques are used. In that case, the standard takes effect three years after the last full measurement before March 31, 2015. Earlier adoption of the standard is permitted. View the revised ASOP on the ASB website under the tab, “Current Actuarial Standards of Practice.”

Recent Events

• The Academy’s May 15 “New Group Long-Term Disability Valuation Table and Actuarial Guideline” webinar featured presentations from Rick Leavitt and Eric Poirier, members of the Group Long-Term Disability Work Group, and was moderated by work group Chairperson Rodger Martin. Leavitt and Poirier provided attendees an in-depth look at the use, application, and various features of the new valuation table and actuarial guideline approved by the NAIC on April 1. View the webinar slides.

Newly Released

• April HealthCheck:  Read about the Academy’s issue brief on the drivers of 2015 health insurance premium changes, a comment letter submitted by the Risk Sharing Work Group to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a citation of the Academy in a Wall Street Journal article asking if health actuary is “the hardest job in America,” and much more.

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