Public Policy

The Social Security Committee published an issue brief on actuarial assumptions used by the Social Security Administration to make projections for and evaluations of Social Security’s financial condition.

The Financial Reporting Committee and Life Financial Reporting Committee submitted comments to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) regarding indexing and modco embedded derivatives.

The Lifetime Income Risk Joint Committee submitted comments to the Department of Labor on an interim final regulation with request for comments regarding pension benefit statements and lifetime income illustrations.

The Life Practice Council’s ASOP No. 2 Practice Note Task Force submitted comments to the Actuarial Standards Board on the second exposure draft of the proposed revision of ASOP No. 2, Nonguaranteed Elements for Life Insurance and Annuity Products.

Academy Casualty Vice President Lauren Cavanaugh addressed the NAIC’s Special Committee on Race and Insurance, speaking to her prepared comments previously submitted, which covered actuarial guidance, disparate impact, and data quality. She recommended consideration of independent organizations to examine and certify third-party data for hidden biases, accuracy, and relevance. She also described for commissioners and regulators several actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs) relevant to actuarial practice in areas being looked at by the special committee.

The Individual and Small Group Markets Committee sent comments to the Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), expressing concerns on the claims data updates finalized in the 2021 Actuarial Value (AV) Calculator. The comments are for consideration in preparing the draft 2022 AV Calculator.

The Academy’s Casualty Practice Council (CPC) and Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting (COPLFR) presented an update on CPC and COPLFR activity to the NAIC’s Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force (CASTF), including pandemic risk insurance, workers’ compensation, automobile insurance, and cyber risk, and gave a preview of December’s Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions.

States have moved to develop their own laws given there is a lack of federal regulation of notice requirements to consumers in the event of cyber breaches. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic comparison of the existing regulations with respect to data breaches involving personally identifiable information across the states. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Insurance Data Security Model Law is also examined.

The Academy’s Principle-Based Reserving (PBR) Analysis Templates Task Force published six templates to assist users when performing PBR analysis or preparing PBR Actuarial Reports required by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Valuation Manual (VM-31). 

Actuarial Memorandum Practice Note Work Group of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Health Practice Council released the Actuarial Memorandum Practice Note. The purpose of this practice note is to provide information that can be useful for appointed actuaries dealing with the challenges of producing an Actuarial Memorandum in support of the Actuarial Opinion filed as part of the Health Annual Statement Blank (often referred to as the Health Blank or the Orange Blank). However, the concepts covered in this practice note could be useful for other situations requiring documentation for health business.

The Health Practice International Committee (HPIC) released the International Health Care Funding Report. This report is the first iteration of a project is intended to be an illustration of international models of health care funding, and reflects the state of 36 health funding systems from around the world as of December 31, 2019. This report is a joint effort of volunteers of the American Academy of Actuaries Health Practice International Committee (HPIC), the International Actuarial Association Health Section (IAAHS), and the Society of Actuaries (SOA) International Section.

The Pension Committee published an issue brief detailing Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) single-employer premiums and considering their impact on pension plan sponsorship.

The Academy's Tax Work Group released a white paper outlining the most significant changes in the taxation of life insurance companies that were made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA).

The Pension Committee released an exposure draft of a practice note providing background and ideas about how a pension actuary might comply with ASOP No. 56, Modeling. Please send comments to the pension policy analyst of the American Academy of Actuaries at pensionanalyst@actuary.org by January 31, 2021.

The Academy has released a new Essential Elements paper: “Wildfire Risk in the United States.” The paper discusses where and when wildfires occur, the rising property/casualty costs from wildfire damage, the importance of wildfire modeling, and ways to address wildfire risk. Essential Elements, a series of concise and informative papers developed by the Academy, is designed to provide a quick and easy-to-understand overview of key public policy issues of interest to Academy members, policymakers, and the general public.