This Week, October 1-5, 2012

Academy in the News

• An American Banker commentary, Let’s Establish Professional Standards for Bankers [2], states that “(T)he American Academy of Actuaries may be the best model for the banking community to study. Independent of the U.S. government, but cooperative, the Academy sets and controls the standards for the actuarial profession.”
• Academy Senior Pension Fellow Don Fuerst is quoted in a Washington Times commentary, Social Security deficit deepens [3]. “Social Security is not running out of money now, and many options exist to maintain the long-term solvency of the program,” Fuerst said. “But waiting too long to make these fixes will cause greater hardship to retirees and taxpayers.”
• In a post-presidential-debate interview published Oct. 4 in the subscription-only BNA, Academy Senior Pension Fellow Don Fuerst said “it was disappointing” the candidates “didn’t talk more about Social Security. We certainly feel that it’s a serious issue that needs to be addressed and the sooner it's addressed the better.” Fuerst also noted that Social Security reform, while less urgent than Medicare reform, is equally important.

News Releases

• The Academy issued a news release [4] on Monday, Oct. 1, in advance of last Wednesday’s presidential debate, to encourage both candidates to specify how they will address the financial risks to Social Security and Medicare, and health care spending growth.

Website: New Postings

• The Casualty, Life, Health, Professionalism, and Risk Management and Financial Reporting Councils sent comments [5] to the NAIC’s Corporate Governance Working Group on its Proposed Responses to a Comparative Analysis of Existing U.S. Corporate Governance Requirements.
• The Pension Practice Council sent comments [6] to Moody’s in response to its proposed adjustments to public pension data reported by state and local governments.
• The Pension Practice Council sent comments [7] to the Actuarial Standards Board regarding its discussion draft, Assessment and Disclosure of Risk Associated with Pension Obligations, Plan Costs, and Plan Contributions.
• The Public Plans Subcommittee sent comments [8] to the California Actuarial Advisors Panel regarding its discussion draft, Model Actuarial Funding Policies and Practices (MAFPP) for Public Pension and OPEB Plans.
• The Pension Accounting Committee sent comments [9] to the Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding its proposed Accounting Standards Update, Financial Instruments (Topic 825)–Disclosures about Liquidity Risk and Interest Rate Risk.

Upcoming Events

• Oct. 12, Understanding the ACA—Rate Filing Review and Disclosure [10]: Members of the Rate Review Practice Note Work Group will discuss the review and disclosure requirements of “unreasonable” rate increases under the Affordable Care Act in this webinar.
• Oct. 15, Academy Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon [11]: The Academy will transition presidential leadership from Dave Sandberg to Cecil Bykerk, announce winners of the annual awards, and hear from keynote speaker Stu Rothenberg. The luncheon is included in your registration if you are attending the SOA meeting. Academy members who are not attending the SOA meeting may purchase a ticket for $70.
• Oct. 31, Understanding LTC Rate Stability [12]: Presenters in this webinar will provide important information for pricing actuaries when completing an actuarial certification related to pricing long-term care insurance policy forms under the rate stability provisions of the NAIC’s Long-Term Care Model Regulation.
• Nov. 7–8, P/C Effective Loss Reserve Opinion Seminar—Tools for the Appointed Actuary [13]: Early bird registration ends Oct. 15. New breakout sessions and hands-on workshops will cover requirements and recent changes.
• Nov. 12–15, Life and Health Qualifications Seminar [14]: Final registration must be received before Oct. 26. This seminar is the 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.

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