This Week, April 30-May 4, 2012

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.

Website: New Postings

• The Medical Loss Ratio Work Group sent a letter [1] 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 [2] [3]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 [4] 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 [5] 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 [6] 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 [7] to the NAIC’s Blanks Working Group on its proposed 2012 Actuarial Opinion Instructions.

• The C1 Work Group submitted a report [8] and delivered a presentation [9] 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 [10] [10]an update of the 2003 practice note on long-term care rate stability. Log in [11] to read the full alert.

Media Coverage

• Academy Senior Pension Fellow Don Fuerst was called on by Pensions & Investments [12] 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 [13] 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 [14] 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 [15] after two years of low interest rates.

Recently Released Publications

• April Actuarial Update: Read [16] 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 [17] 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 [18] 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 [19] 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 [20] recognizes members for their public service achievements or a career devoted to public service. The Awards for Outstanding Volunteerism [21] are awarded to Academy volunteers who have made a single, noteworthy contribution above and beyond what is reasonably expected.

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