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Recent Academy Activity, Dec. 30, 2013–Jan. 3, 2014

Reminder

  • If you have not paid your 2014 membership dues, please do so by clicking here to conveniently pay online without logging in. If you prefer, you also can log in to pay your dues, print your invoice, or update your profile.

Professionalism Activities

  • The Committee on Qualifications responded on Jan. 3 to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Joint Qualified Actuary Subgroup’s request for comments regarding the definition of a “qualified actuary.” For signing NAIC Statements of Actuarial Opinion, the committee recommended that the definition include a reference to qualifications under the Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in the United States. It recommended specific language in connection with the life, health, and property and casualty NAIC annual SAOs.

Public Policy Activities

  • The Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting released its 2013 practice note on statements of actuarial opinion on P&C loss reserves.
  • The Rate Review Practice Note Work Group submitted technical comments to the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight on a new proposed list of changes to the Unified Rate Review Template for quarterly 2014 and annual 2015 filings. The letter also reiterates several other technical comments on the template and the actuarial memorandum instructions.
  • In the Academy’s Jan. 2 webinar, “IFRS Update: Where In The World Are We Going With Insurance Contracts?” members of the Academy’s Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council discussed the Academy’s and other key stakeholders’ responses to the 2013 International Accounting Standards Board and Financial Accounting Standards Board exposure drafts on insurance contracts. Presenters offered their opinions on the timing and likelihood of passage of any new standards, as well as the effect they would have on insurers, regulators, and actuaries. Click here to listen to the recorded webinar.

News from the Actuarial Standards Board

  • The Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) recently adopted a revised version of ASOP No. 4, Measuring Pension Obligations and Determining Pension Plan Costs or Contributions. The revised ASOP No. 4 will be effective for any work product with a measurement date on or after Dec. 31, 2014. The final version can be viewed on the ASB Web site at www.actuarialstandardsboard.org under the tab “Current Actuarial Standards of Practice.”

Member Alerts

  • Public Policy Year in Review: The Academy's special year-end legislative and regulatory review for 2013 recounts significant federal and state legislative and regulatory actions over the past year of interest to the U.S. actuarial profession. Among the issues that the Academy focused on were entitlement reform, Affordable Care Act implementation, lifetime income, terrorism risk insurance, and principle-based reserving for life insurance. Read the full alert.
  • Bipartisanship on the Budget: The President signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, H.J.R. 59, on Dec. 26, increasing Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums and extending sequestration cuts to Medicare for two additional years. Log in to read the full alert.

Academy in the News

  • Senior Pension Fellow Donald Fuerst told the authors of a Dec. 29 Financial Times article, “US public finance: Day of reckoning” (registration required) that actuaries “do not consider an 80% funded plan to be ‘healthy’ or ‘well-funded’” and informed them about the Academy’s work on different measurements of the obligations of defined benefit pension plans.
  • A U.S. News & World Report reporter mentioned the Academy’s response to insurance cancellation reversals in his account of purchasing health insurance on a state-run exchange. The story also ran in the New Haven Register.
  • Senior Pension Fellow Donald Fuerst told the Memphis Commercial Appeal about the effects of using different discount rates for a (subscriber-only) article that examines different estimates of the city’s pension plan funding shortfall.
  • America’s Health Insurance Plans’ “Time for Affordability” campaign cites the Academy’s issue brief, “How Will Premiums Change Under the ACA?”

Opportunities to Learn

  • Guest speakers from FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration will examine the current state of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in the Jan. 16 edition of the Academy’s monthly “Academy Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” webinar series. The webinar, “Eighteen Months After Biggert-Waters: Is the NFIP Staying Afloat?” will discuss how the NFIP’s financial stability was affected by Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, as well as the implementation of the Biggert-Waters Act and legislation that Congress is considering to further modify the program. Register online.

New Publications

  • You can now pre-order the 2013 Property/Casualty Loss Reserve Law Manual and the 2014 Life and Health Law Manual. Updated annually, the Property/Casualty Loss Reserve Law Manual is scheduled to be released soon. It can be ordered online or by mail/fax. The Life and Health Valuation Law Manual, also updated annually, is scheduled to be released early this year. It also can be ordered online or by mail/fax.

Recently Released Publications

  • January/February Contingencies: Read about international efforts to curb the societal costs of diabetes, how health care reform is affecting the employer disability insurance market, the possibilities of an actuarial role in the valuation of defined contribution pension plans, some fresh thinking on how to finance the cost of long-term care, and much more.

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