This Week, January 28 - February 1, 2013

Announcements

• Opportunity to Lead: Nominations Sought for Academy Regular Directors. Members are invited [2] to nominate themselves or others for consideration as an Academy regular director by submitting names directly to the Academy’s Nominating Committee.
• Are You an Academy Volunteer? Take Action Now to Acknowledge COI Policy and CE Requirements: Every year, Academy members who serve on Academy boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, task forces, and work groups must acknowledge the existing conflict of interest (COI) policy and attest to compliance with the continuing education (CE) requirements of the U.S. Qualification Standards. To comply, click on the special link in the email you received yesterday from “American Academy of Actuaries [coi@actuary.org]” or reply as instructed in that email. You also may log in [3] to the members-only page, and follow instructions there.

News Releases

• Chief Medicare Actuary Retires: Academy Applauds Foster’s Service to Public and Profession. The Academy offered a heartfelt thank you to Richard S. Foster, who is retiring this week as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) chief actuary after a long and distinguished career in public service. Through his 18 years at CMS and previous 13 years as deputy chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, Foster devoted his entire actuarial career to improving the financial status of the nation’s most important social insurance programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Read [4] the news release.

Upcoming Events

• Webinar: Risk of Material Adverse Deviation Disclosure in U.S. Statements of Actuarial Opinion (Feb. 14): Join the Academy and the Casualty Actuarial Society to review the risk of material adverse deviation (RMAD) disclosure required of appointed actuaries providing statements of actuarial opinion on property/casualty loss and loss adjustment expense reserves in the United States. You will learn why RMAD disclosure exists and how to establish a materiality standard, evaluate whether there is an RMAD, and document your findings. Register today [5]!
• Webinar: The Relationship between Medicare and Private Insurance Provider Payment Rates (Feb. 21): Presenters will discuss the relationship between Medicare provider payment rates and those for private insurance. This information is important for understanding how any changes in Medicare provider payment rates could affect private plans. Projecting the effects of moving Medicare to a premium support program also requires consideration of this key issue. Register today [6]!

Recently Released Publications

• January Actuarial Update: Read [7] the top priorities for the year as developed by each of the Academy’s practice councils as well as a look back at key legislative and regulatory developments from 2012.
• January HealthCheck: Read [8] about recent health care reform activities.

Website: New Postings

• The Annuity Illustration Subgroup sent comments [9] to the Iowa Insurance Division on its December 2012 draft memorandum regarding annuity illustrations.
• The Cancer Claims Cost Tables Work Group submitted a letter [10] to the NAIC’s Health Actuarial Task Force providing an update on progress in the development of the valuation table and the work it expects to do over the next six months.
• The ORSA Subgroup submitted changes [11]to the NAIC on its December 2012 draft, Guidance Manual for the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment, and included information on actuaries who are involved in enterprise risk management.

Member Alerts

• Superstorm Sandy Legislation Passes: The U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives in passing legislation [12] to aid states affected by Superstorm Sandy. Log in [3] to read the full alert.

Academy in the News

• Politico Pro’s article, “States face challenges in moving high-risk, high-cost people into exchanges,” cited the Academy’s comments on the proposed HHS rule on reinsurance. This subscription-only article discusses the effect on premiums of moving individuals in state high-risk pools into the exchanges and how the front-loaded nature of the reinsurance mechanism may factor into states’ strategies.

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