Reminder

• Last chance in 2014! Submit your nominations for the Academy’s Robert J. Myers Public Service Award and the Jarvis Farley Service Award. The deadline to submit nominations is July 3. The Myers award recognizes actuaries who have made an exceptional contribution to the common good either through public service or otherwise. The Farley award is given to Academy members whose volunteer efforts on behalf of the Academy have made significant contributions to the advancement of the profession.

Opportunities to Learn

• Actuaries at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) help keep pensions secure for American workers. Get an overview of the PBGC in this month’s “Academy Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” webinar, scheduled for June 30 from noon to 1 p.m. ET. Christopher Bone, director of PBGC’s Policy, Research and Analysis Department, and Neela K. Ranade, chief negotiating actuary of its Corporate Finance and Restructuring Department, will present “PBGC: Protecting Pensions & the Role of the Actuary.” Other topics in the webinar will include:

• The actuarial data PBGC requires plan sponsors to provide in its review of corporate and plan transactions;
• Tips for practicing actuaries to help their clients achieve more efficient interactions with PBGC; and
• An update on late-breaking news and regulations related to the PBGC.

All members are invited to attend. Learn more and register now.

Recent Events

• More than 4,900 attendees learned about professionalism and ethics requirements during the June 26 webinar hosted by the Council on Professionalism, “Disclosure in the Real World.” Webinar panelists Patricia Matson, chairperson of the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB), Al Beer, former ASB chairperson, and Sheila Kalkunte, the Academy’s assistant general counsel, provided attendees extensive information to identify what constitutes actuarial communications subject to rules and regulations, and discussed disclosure requirements and practical considerations regarding disclosures. They used challenging case studies to illustrate how to assess varying ethically significant facts and circumstances to comply with the requirements of the Code of Professional Conduct, actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs), and other applicable regulations. View the slides on the Academy website. A recording of the webinar will be available free of charge to Academy members.

Public Policy Activities

• Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello represented the Academy in the June 27 Capitol Hill panel discussion, “Rates of Change: Putting 2015 Insurance Premiums into Context,” hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund. She reviewed and answered questions about the drivers of 2015 health insurance premiums for this event televised live by C-SPAN2. Watch a recording of the event.
• The Life Practice Council sent a comment letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Principle-based Reserving Implementation (EX) Task Force on its June 4 exposure of the Rector Report.
• The Tax Work Group sent a comment letter to the NAIC Health Actuarial Task Force on the tax implications of the 2013 Individual Disability Income Valuation Tables.

Newly Released

• Summer Enrolled Actuaries Report: Read about the 2014 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting and Pension Symposium, including articles about EA Meeting sessions on lifetime income options, pension insurance policy, proposed mortality tables and projection scale, the 2014 Gray Book, and actuarial ethics.

Academy in the News

• Uccello reviewed a Health Affairs policy brief examining the legislative background and congressional debate on, implementation of, and open questions regarding the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) risk corridor program. The brief cites the Academy’s Fact Sheet: ACA Risk-Sharing Mechanisms: The 3Rs (Risk Adjustment, Risk Corridors, and Reinsurance) Explained as a source.
• A blog posting on 2015 health insurance premiums by America’s Health Insurance Plans urges readers to look to actuaries for “proper focus and explanation” of the factors behind premium changes. “Everyone wants to know what premiums are going to look like for 2015 in the new health care marketplaces. The answer of course is not straightforward, but it deserves proper focus and explanation. So where do we turn? Well, you know who is pretty good at sorting through this kind of thing? Actuaries.”

Publication Note

• This Week will not be published next week. Publication will resume on Friday, July 11, 2014.

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