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Welcome to Inside the Academy
... the e-newsletter for members of the American Academy of Actuaries. Every month, ITA highlights new online resources and a few timely Academy events and activities.
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New tools for Medicare subsidy work
Under federal law, Academy membership is required for actuaries who attest to the actuarial equivalence of retiree health plans that seek a Medicare Part D subsidy. The Academy has developed two new tools to help members who are making the attestations.
- A draft practice note on the procedural and professional aspects of the attestations for Medicare’s new retiree drug subsidy (RDS) program. The comment deadline for the exposure draft is Nov. 15.
- An opt-in member ID system. Since a new membership verification system went online July 31, more than 560 Academy members have used it. The Academy worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop the new service, which allows members to get their Academy ID numbers and send their membership information to the subsidy program.
- To send your membership information to the Medicare subsidy program, click here and follow the instructions.
- If you have questions about the member verification process, contact the Academy's Mark Paster (paster@actuary.org; 202-223-8196).
- If you have questions about the subsidy program itself, contact the RDS Center or call the RDS help line at 877-737-4357.
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Following up on CAS actuarial credibility report
The Academy has named two representatives to a CAS-led interorganizational steering committee that will pursue recommendations made in a recent report from the CAS Task Force on Actuarial Credibility. The task force called for some significant changes, including broadened public disclosure of differences between management's recorded p/c loss reserves and the "best estimate" in the actuarial opinion on those reserves. Pat Teufel will chair the steering committee, and its representatives from the Academy will be Mary D. Miller, vice president for casualty issues, and Burt Jay, vice president for risk management and financial reporting. ASB and ABCD representatives have also been asked to serve on it.
In a related effort, the Academy has formed a task force of its own. The Appointed Actuary Task Force will examine the CAS recommendations to determine which ideas have the potential to enhance actuarial credibility in multiple practice areas. The task force is chaired by Burt Jay and is has one representative from every Academy council.
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For information about the Academy's task force, contact Craig Hanna at the Academy.
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Read the CAS Task Force on Actuarial Credibility report on the CAS website.
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2005 Annual Meeting:
"The Actuarial Profession at the Crossroads"
Join your Academy colleagues at the 2005 Annual Meeting, "The Actuarial Profession at the Crossroads," Oct. 10-11 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington. It will celebrate the Academy's 40th anniversary and offer a challenging program on risks and opportunities facing the profession, financial economics, principle-based insurance regulation, ERM, and litigation risk for practicing actuaries. The regular member registration fee of $200 will be waived for Academy volunteers.
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Fall seminars on actuarial opinions
Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions: Tools for the Appointed Actuary, Oct. 19 or 20, Hilton O’Hare.
In response to demand, this seminar will be offered twice, once on Oct. 19 and again the next day |
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Contact the Academy’s Kasha Shelton (shelton@actuary.org; 202-223-8196) if you want to attend the Oct. 19 seminar, which is nearly sold out. |
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To sign up for the Oct. 20 seminar, use the registration form on the Academy website. |
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The seminar is for writers and signers of p-c loss reserve opinions, and it will focus on regulatory and professionalism considerations. It will include discussion of documentation, point estimates, management's best estimate, risk of material adverse deviation, and dealing with difficult situations.
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Life and Health Qualifications Seminar, Nov. 8-11, Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. This annual seminar is designed to help actuaries meet the qualification standards to sign life and health reserve opinions. It can also be a useful refresher for more experienced life and health actuaries, and can provide casualty actuaries an opportunity to learn about statutory requirements in another area.
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Get more info about the life and health seminar
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Register for the life and health seminar
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Life reserving efforts gain momentum
The NAIC's Life Insurance and Annuities Committee, or A Committee, will hold a hearing-style meeting in Minneapolis next week to discuss moving from a formulaic to a principles-based approach for life reserving. The Academy has been a leader in this effort, and it has been working with the NAIC for years to create a more principles-based system. At next week’s meeting of the A Committee, Academy representatives will focus on the regulatory and governance implications of making the shift. The actuaries are expected to include one or more members of the Academy’s Standard Valuation Law Work Group and/or Universal Life Work Group. For more information on the Academy’s work in this area, contact the Academy’s Amanda Yanek.
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New issue of the Actuarial Update
Read the August Actuarial Update to catch up on news about the Academy's public policy and professionalism work. The current issue of the Academy's award-winning newsmonthly is not online, and it includes:
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Coverage of Financial Reporting Committee meetings with the SEC and with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
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An article by Rade Musulin on the underappreciated role of catastrophe models in stabilizing the property insurance market
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The names of the Academy's 225 new members
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A summary of Pension Vice President Ken Kent's discussion of pension distribution policy with a U.S. Labor Department advisory panel
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Summaries of new ASOPs approved by the ASB
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Now on the web
Resources on the Academy website include publications and comments on public policy and professionalism issues, as well as guidance for practicing actuaries. Here are some of the recent additions:
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Standards and discipline task force starts work
As part of the U.S. profession's current self-assessment effort, a new Academy task force is looking at ways to enhance ASB and ABCD independence. The task force, created by the Academy's Council on Professionalism, is composed of Chairperson Vincent Amoroso, Godfrey Perrott (representing the ASB), Bill Falk (representing the ABCD), and Alice Rosenblatt, at-large member. It is expected to examine such suggestions as increasing transparency in standards and discipline processes, broadening participation in standards and discipline oversight, providing for regular review of actuarial opinions, adding private reprimands as an ABCD disciplinary option, and creating greater administrative independence. The task force plans to get input from actuaries and from regulators and others who rely on actuarial work products. If you need more information, contact Lauren Bloom at the Academy.
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ASB adopts two revised ASOPS
The ASB recently approved new versions of two actuarial standards of practice.
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The ASB has also announced that, in response to a request from the CAS Board of Directors, the ASB Casualty Committee is considering recommending that the disclosure section of ASOP 36 be broadened.
ASOP 36 covers actuarial opinions for p/c loss reserves. |
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IAA accounting guidelines now online
An international standards project has marked a milestone:. The IAA’s first practice guidelines for complying with international accounting standards have been finalized. The guidelines (also known as class 4 international actuarial standards of practice) are IASPs 2-8 on the Library page of the IAA website. ASB staff provide editorial and legal expertise for the IAA’s ongoing standards-development efforts. |
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Wanted: Data for preferred mortality study
The Academy is helping the SOA with a study that is expected to help redefine reserve requirements for preferred life policies. The joint effort comes in response to a request from the NAIC to develop new standards for product valuation that reflect various levels of preferred mortality; the American Council of Life Insurers is also participating in the project. The effort is headed by an oversight committee chaired by Larry Gorski, who also chairs the Academy's Life Capital Adequacy Subcommittee. The project is currently seeking individual life policy data for the study.
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To contribute data or find out more about the study, contact actuary Jack Luff at the SOA (jluff@soa.org; 847-706-3571).
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To find out more about the oversight committee, contact the Academy's Amanda Yanek (yanek@actuary.org; 202-223-8196).
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Short-term subscriptions to Academy Alerts
If you've been thinking of getting Academy Alerts, you don't have to wait until winter. The Alerts are usually sent for paid annual subscriptions that start in January, but short-term subscriptions are now being offered so you can receive the Alerts for the rest of 2005.
As a subscriber, you receive e-mailed Alerts about the practice areas that interest you, plus web access to those Alerts. You also get complimentary Alerts on general insurance issues. The short-term subscription are $15 for health insurance Alerts, life insurance Alerts, or property and liability insurance Alerts, and $25 for pension and employee benefits Alerts. To subscribe or to get more information, contact the Academy's Kasha Shelton (shelton@actuary.org; 202-223-8196).
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Let us hear from you
If you have suggestions, questions, or comments about Inside the Academy, we want to hear them! Send your comments to Managing Editor Anne Asplen (asplen@actuary.org, 202-223-8196). We welcome your feedback.
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