This Week, November 26 - November 30, 2012

Reminder: Membership Dues

• Membership dues payment is due Jan. 1, 2013. 2013 membership dues remain at the same level as 2012. If you haven’t paid your 2013 dues, click here [2] to conveniently pay online before Jan. 1. Log in [3] now to pay your dues, print your invoice, or to update your profile.

Upcoming Events

• Dec. 12: Join the Council on Professionalism to learn about peer review [4] and the common practices actuaries can use in determining whether voluntary peer review of their actuarial services and actuarial communications may be beneficial. You’ll also learn when to use peer review, how to identify suitable peer reviewers, considerations in establishing a peer review program, and more!
• Dec. 13: The Academy’s Life Practice Council will present a webinar [5] providing an overview of the NAIC Fall National Meeting and progress on the principle-based approach (PBA) to life reserves. The newly adopted 2012 Individual Annuity Reserving Table which becomes effective January 2014 also will be discussed.

Recently Released Publications

• The North American Actuarial Council released its 2011-2012 annual report [6].
• November Actuarial Update: This issue [7] features a profile of Academy President Cecil Bykerk and updates from the Academy’s practice councils.
• November HealthCheck: Read about recent health care reform activities in the latest edition [8].

Member Alerts

• Health: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a proposed rule [9] that provides more detail and clarification on several key provisions in the ACA. Log in [3] to read the full alert.
• General Insurance: Actuaries are considered eligible under HR 6429, the STEM Jobs Act that allocates immigrant visas for foreign graduates of American universities with advanced degrees. Log in [3] to read the full alert.
• Health: The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury released several sets of proposed rules relating to the ACA. Log in [3] to read the full alert.
• General Insurance: The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) adopted charges for 2013 during its 2012 annual meeting. Discussions also covered a wide range of issues including: principle-based reserving, National Flood Insurance Program, and Dodd-Frank implementation activity. Log in [3] to read the full alert.
• Pension: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s annual report indicates that its deficit increased to $34 billion for the fiscal year. Log in [3] to read the full alert.

Website: New Postings

• The Life Practice Council sent comments [10] to the NAIC Contingent Deferred Annuity Working Group, Definition Subgroup regarding a proposed terminology and definition for contingent deferred annuities that had been jointly offered by the Insured Retirement Institute and the American Council of Life Insurers.
• The Nonforfeiture Modernization Work Group presented a report [11] to the Life Actuarial Task Force.
• The Solvency Committee responded [12] to an NAIC Solvency Modernization Initiative Task Force request to outline methods of measuring regulatory financial success in the U.S. insurance financial regulatory system.
• COPLFR sent a letter [13] to the NAIC’s Casualty Actuarial & Statistical Task Force on the Statutory Accounting Principles Working Group’s proposed changes to SSAP 65.
• The P/C RBC Committee provided a report [14] to the NAIC’s SMI RBC Subgroup on risk correlation methodologies used to determine regulatory solvency capital requirements in advanced jurisdictions outside the United States.

Recent Events

• The Council on Professionalism sponsored a well-attended special event [15] during theNAIC Fall National Meeting. Attendees met representatives from the Actuarial Standards Board, Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline, the Academy’s Council on Professionalism, and its Committee on Qualifications, and learned how each operated.
• More than 300 actuaries attended the Social Security Committee’s webinar [16]on the assumptions used to evaluate Social Security’s financial condition. Attendees also received an overview of the actuarial status of the program based on the 2012 Social Security Trustees Report.
• Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello presented [17] to NCOIL regarding states’ ACA Medicaid expansion decisions.

Academy in the News

• Contingencies author Dan Skwire discussed [18] links between literature and insurance on NPR’s The Story.
• The Academy was mentioned in Governing, “Report: 21 States’ Pension Systems Not Fiscally Sound [19],” Watchdog.org, “Note to Morningstar: Municipal and state pension hemorrhage accelerating [20],” Health Affairs Blog, “Implementing Health Reform: Essential Health Benefits, Actuarial Value, And Accreditation [21],” and GalesburgPlanet.com, “Testimony before the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [22].”

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