This Week: May 27, 2011

Announcements

• Nominations for regular directors to the Academy Board of Directors will close May 31. Visit the Academy Election Center [1] to learn more about this year's changes and to access the nominating guidelines and instructions.
• The Academy is seeking to recognize outstanding members for their contributions and commitment to the profession through the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award [2] and the Jarvis Farley Service Award [3]. The Robert J. Myers Public Service Award will honor an actuary who has made an extraordinary contribution to the public good. The nomination deadline is July 8. The Jarvis Farley Award will recognize an Academy volunteer who has made exceptional contributions to the actuarial profession. The nomination deadline is July 12. Recipients of the awards will be announced at the Academy Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon on Oct. 24.

Media Coverage

• Factbox: Options to shore up Medicare finances in U.S. [4]
  Reuters, May 25, 2011
  The Academy's new issue brief [5], which explores options to improve Medicare's financial condition, was the lead source for a backgrounder on Medicare reform options.

Website: New Postings

• Actuary Kevin Bingham, who co-authored "Product Recall: Covering Your Bottom Line" in the March/April 2011 issue of Contingencies, highlights the risk of a product recall and how to plan for it in the Academy's newest video [6] on YouTube.
• The Academy's Pension Committee sent comments [7] to the Internal Revenue Service and Department of the Treasury regarding the potential implications of expected regulatory guidance on the definition of "plan-related expenses expected to be paid from plan assets" under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 430(b).
• The Academy's Pension Accounting Committee issued a practice note [8] with information for actuaries on current practices relevant to the audit of pension plan financial information that is subject to U.S.-generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP).
• The Academy's Social Insurance Committee released a new issue brief [9] that highlights the 2011 Social Security Trustees Report and outlines the public policy options to address Social Security's long-term financial soundness.
• The Academy's Medicare Steering Committee released a new issue brief [10] that highlights the 2011 Medicare Trustees Report and outlines the public policy options to address Medicare's long-term financial soundness.
• The slide presentation [11] from the May 26 Capitol Hill briefing, An Actuarial Perspective on the 2011 Social Security Trustees Report, is available for download. Presenters from the Academy's Social Insurance Committee shared insights on the report and presented reform options that, if enacted now, could help address Social Security's long-term financial soundness.
• The slide presentation [12] from the May 27 Capitol Hill briefing, An Actuarial Perspective on the 2011 Medicare Trustees Report, is available for download. Presenters from the Health Practice Council examined the financial projections from the report and discussed the outlook for Medicare's sustainability.
• Slide presentations [13] from the May 18 seminar, Preparing for Change under PBA: Life Company Reserves and Capital, are available for download. Presentations cover "hot topics" and information specific to the implementation challenges related to the Principle-based Approach (PBA) for statutory reserves and capital.

Recently Released Publications

• May HealthCheck [14]: Articles in this issue cover today's Capitol Hill briefing on the 2011 Medicare Trustees Report and the Medicare Steering Committee's issue brief that examines many of the Medicare-related provisions in recent debt and deficit reduction proposals.
• May/June Contingencies [15]: Features in this issue include a review of the steps that Mexico is taking as it transitions to a Solvency II approach to insurance regulation, a discussion of the challenges that continuing care retirement communities face in a contracting U.S. real estate market, a look at the uses of cognitive science in managing performance risk, and much more.

Upcoming Events

• Sign up for next week's webinar, P/C Risk-Based Capital: State and International Solvency Regulation, [16] to learn about the latest developments concerning regulatory capital requirements for U.S. P/C insurance enterprises. The May 31 webinar will cover the ongoing revision of P/C Risk-based Capital (RBC) requirements, the NAIC Solvency Modernization Initiative (SMI), Solvency II, and International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) developments.
• Hold the date, Oct. 24, for the Academy Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon. The 2011 event will be held in conjunction with Conference of Consulting Actuaries Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.

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