Academy volunteers—and individuals who are an interested party on a committee, whether an Academy member or not—must annually acknowledge the Academy’s Conflict of Interest (COI) policy, Vice President of Professionalism Joeff Williams writes in his January Actuarial Update column. (January 31, 2017)
Read the latest issue of This Week—the Academy's end-of-week digital newsletter, compiling a week’s worth of news, updates, and media coverage in one convenient, easy-to-use publication. (February 10, 2017)
The February issue of HealthCheck features the Individual and Small Group Markets Committee’s issue paper examining the individual health insurance market and implications of potential changes thereto; written testimony submitted for the record on the effectiveness of the individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act, and regulatory, legislative, and executive actions affecting the health care landscape. (February 08, 2017)
Keith Passwater, chairperson of the Academy’s Committee on Qualifications, outlined three new FAQs about the Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in the United States on long-term care qualifications, actuaries changing practice areas, and experience under the specific qualification standard. The FAQs are a handy resource that actuaries can consult when they have questions about qualifications. (January 31, 2017)
More than 2,000 people attended the Academy’s Dec. 21 professionalism webinar that focused on a topic of perennial interest: actuarial communications, particularly documentation and disclosures.
Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) Chairperson Richard Block and ABCD member Janet Carstens gave an overview of both the ABCD and Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 41, Actuarial Communications. Their presentation centered on responsibility for assumptions and methods, including what the actuary will typically disclose when an assumption is set by a third party or the law. They also reviewed other disclosures required by ASOP No. 41, such as conflicts of interest, reliance on sources of information, and uncertainties or risk. Slides and audio are available to members without charge on the Academy’s webinar page. (December 21, 2016)
In the fourth and final installment of his presidential papers series “The Academy and the Web of Professionalism,” Past Academy President Tom Wildsmith writes about discipline, tracing the Academy’s early efforts in this area that led to the founding of the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) and the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD). The ABCD, along with the ASB and the U.S. Qualification Standards, form the triad of the Code of Professional Conduct. “Dealing with disciplinary matters is never pleasant, but it is an essential part of any self-regulating profession,” he writes. (Contingencies, January/February 2017) (January 01, 2017)
Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello and Karen Bender, chairperson of the Academy's Individual and Small Group Markets Committee, submitted testimony on the effectiveness of the individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to a U.S. House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee hearing. (February 06, 2017)
The AG 43/C-3 Phase II Work Group submitted comments to the NAIC’s Variable Annuities Issues (E) Working Group on version 1 of the draft specifications for the second quantitative impact study. (February 03, 2017)
Read the latest issue of This Week—the Academy's end-of-week digital newsletter, compiling a week’s worth of news, updates, and media coverage in one convenient, easy-to-use publication. (February 03, 2017)
Senior Pension Fellow Ted Goldman presented on “Longevity and Retirement Security” at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “The Shifting Paradigm of Retirement” forum in Washington on Feb. 3, reviewing the jointly sponsored Actuaries Longevity Illustrator and the challenges of and potential approaches to addressing longevity risk. View the slides. (February 03, 2017)
The January Actuarial Update covers the Individual and Small Group Markets Committee’s new issue paper examining the experience of the individual health insurance market under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and considerations of that market’s sustainability under any potential reforms or repeal of the ACA. Also in this issue the Actuarial Standards Board adopts revisions to two actuarial standards of practice; Academy volunteers and interested parties must commit to objectivity; a new webpage features important information about principle-based reserving (PBR); and the Academy is seeking pooled health plan data. (January 31, 2017)
The ERM/ORSA Committee submitted comments to the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) on its Capital Adequacy Assessment for Insurers exposure draft. (January 31, 2017)
Read the latest issue of This Week—the Academy's end-of-week digital newsletter, compiling a week’s worth of news, updates, and media coverage in one convenient, easy-to-use publication. (January 27, 2017)
The Health Financial Reporting and Solvency Committee sent comments to the Long-Term Care Valuation (B) Subgroup on asset treatment for stand-alone LTC asset adequacy analysis. (January 26, 2017)
The Standard Valuation Law Interest Rate Modernization Work Group submitted comments to the NAIC’s Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF) on its “VM-22: Maximum Valuation Interest Rates for Income Annuities” exposure draft. (January 25, 2017)
