Academy Public Interest Committee Chairperson Tom Terry's testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security was discussed. Terry said that actuaries support restoring actuarial balance to Social Security by increasing the program's retirement age to account for longevity improvements.

Academy Public Interest Committee Chairperson Tom Terry's testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security was discussed. Terry said that actuaries support restoring actuarial balance to Social Security by increasing the program's retirement age to account for longevity improvements.

Academy and Society Joint Pension Finance Task Force Chairperson Evan Inglis discussed how tapping into your pension could cost you more than you think—and not only from taxes. He said that a worker also should consider how much he or she could earn by leaving the pension intact—through investment growth and from future annuity payments, if converting the pension into a lifetime income stream.

The Academy provided life expectancy and mortality data for the average 27-year-old female.

The Academy life and pension practice councils' May 2010 response to a request for information from the departments of Labor and Treasury regarding lifetime income options for retirement plans was cited and linked. The Academy wrote that to achieve a specified level of retirement security, an individual would need to set aside 50 to 75 percent more money than if the individual participated in a risk-pooling arrangement such as annuity.

Academy President Mary Frances Miller's letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Life Actuarial Task Force was discussed. Miller corrected misstatements made about the Academy and the actuarial profession by a third party. In her letter, Miller also defined the Academy’s work in representing the U.S. actuarial profession on public policy issues and outlined the Academy’s policies and procedures that help to maintain the objectivity of its work.

The Academy's Consumer-Driven Health Plans (CDHP) Work Groups’ analysis of CDHPs was cited in a commentary by Janet Trautwein, the CEO of the National Association of Health Underwriters. The Academy said that CDHPs can save as much as 12 to 20 percent in health care costs in the first year and three to five percent on average in subsequent years.

The Academy was cited for its adverse selection and sustainability concerns regarding the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program.

Academy Social Security Committee Chairperson Janet Barr discussed a new report, "Fast Facts and Figures on Social Security, 2011." Among other observations, Barr said that Americans are living longer and that all three legs of the traditional retirement stool--Social Security, employer-provided retirement plans, and personal savings--will be depended on to support longer life expectancies. She said this may require individuals to work longer or save more.