SOA Research Update

Session Description:

The research department of the Society of Actuaries has a broad mandate to advance actuarial practice by sponsoring and publishing research by industry practice experts. Recent and upcoming topics of interest include:

• Regulatory Risk
• A Model for Wellness
• Medical Risk Adjustment
• ACA new enrollee models
• A Study of Insureds with High Medical Costs (aka a Tail Study)
• Development of the Actuaries Climate Index
• 2017 Living to 100 Call for Papers
• LTC incidence
• Termination and utilization studies
• LTD termination study

Speaker(s):

Rebecca Owen, FSA MAAA – Rebecca joined the Society of Actuaries as the Health Research Actuary during the summer of 2014. Prior to that she had been involved in health actuarial analytics, with a focus on population health, trend analysis, pharmaceutical utilization and innovative provider payment and measurement methods, with a focus on government programs, as well as jumbo groups both public and private.

International Developments in Solvency and Financial Reporting

Session Description:

Tom will address the current efforts underway by the IAIS to create a global standard for insurance group minimum capital. He will address the temporary and permanent projects that will effect internationally active insurance groups and systemically important insurers. The IASB and FASB are now pursuing separate insurance financial reporting projects.

Doug will present on the progress of the IASB on finishing their building block model and where the FASB may be headed with their “targeted improvements”. What does this mean for life and health reporting and when will the changes become effective?

Speaker(s):

Tom Herget, FSA, MAAA, CERA. Tom is a retired life company actuary currently doing volunteer work for the SOA, AAA and IAA in the financial reporting area of practice.

Douglas S. Van Dam, FSA, MAAA Manager, Actuarial Services, PolySystems, Inc. Doug provides actuarial financial reporting consulting services to insurance entities both domestic and global. He has been closely following the development of the new international insurance GAAP accounting standard for 9 years and is member of the AAA IFRS Task Force/AAA Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council Financial Reporting Committee. He is also a member of the SOA Fellowship Exams Curriculum Committee for the Life and Annuity Track.

The Success Tract: Words of Wisdom on Effectively Managing Your Actuarial Career

Session Description:

Navigating your career path, selecting your exam track, successfully finding work/life harmony, establishing your professional brand and network can be a challenge. What should be considered when selecting a specialty track? How can professionals balance their current work and personal life with preparing for the FSA exams? What are the hot trends for actuaries? Explore the answers to these pressing questions and more as you move forward in your actuarial career. Moderated by an industry insider with current and future insights into trends, hot topics and in-demand skillsets and leadership characteristics for the business actuary of tomorrow, this session will feature a panel of actuarial professionals eager to share their perspectives, insights and strategies for success.

Session Objectives:
• Examine and explore areas of high demand and hot trends within the actuarial profession.
• Gain insight into successfully balancing your work and professional life with the exam requirements for an FSA designation.
• Discuss best practices and strategies for success in managing and enhancing your actuarial career.

Presentation

Speaker(s):

Margaret Resce Milkint is Managing Partner of The Jacobson Group and leads the firm’s U.S. Executive Search practice. She handles executive management and actuarial searches on a global basis in the areas of life, property and casualty, healthcare, reinsurance, and consulting (benefits, life and health, property and casualty) for the organization’s retained search practice. She also plays a significant role in the continued development of the entire organization as a member of Jacobson’s Executive Management Team. Margaret is a key player in establishing cross-border relationships and broadening the firm’s global reach. Margaret joined the firm more than 25 years ago and has successfully completed search engagements including Board of Director members, CEOs, CMOs, CFOs, COOs, CIOs, CROs, Chief Underwriters and Chief Actuaries. Her international search expertise encompasses disciplines such as actuarial, underwriting, risk, finance and investment, legal, IT, analytics, sales and marketing, and claims. Prior to her tenure with the firm, she was employed by Allstate Insurance Company of Northbrook, Ill. Margaret received her bachelor’s degree with concentrations in English, French and marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As the co-founder of the Women’s Insurance Networking Group (WING), Margaret is a champion of diversity and equality in leadership in the insurance industry. WING was launched as a platform for networking among the insurance industry’s female leaders and enlightened males, those who understand the importance of diversity and equality in leadership in the insurance industry. In addition to her role with WING, Margaret also sits on the steering committee for the Insurance Supper Club (ISC), which provides a network and forum for senior women in the insurance industry on a global basis. Margaret believes strongly in giving back to the community. Her areas of focus include supporting professional development, furthering the growth of the insurance industry, and providing opportunities to today’s youth. She is the former Chair of the Board of Directors and former Chair of the Governance Committee for Easter Seals, DuPage and the Fox Valley Region, and currently serves as a Director for The Leadership Circle for the organization. Currently, Margaret is a Board Member of the Illinois Technology Foundation, focusing her involvement on the importance of communication, social media and networking skills for emerging technology professionals. Margaret is also a member of the Society of Actuary’s (SOA) Employers Council, a group of senior leaders working to create a solid communications channel with the employer community and offering the SOA perspective on business trends and challenges facing insurance, benefits consulting and broader financial services firms. In addition, Margaret currently serves as a Career Development Speaker for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois and is a member of the Membership Committee for the Chicago Finance Exchange, an organization comprised of leading women in Chicago finance who are dedicated to enhancing their professional growth as leaders and decision makers. Previously, Margaret served as a volunteer instructor for Jobs for Youth, a non-profit organization addressing youth employment. Margaret’s expertise on career and recruiting issues is widely-recognized throughout the industry. She was most recently called upon to share her perspectives with Best’s Review, Insurance & Technology, Insurance Networking News, and Diversity/Careers. She further communicates her insights with the industry through bylined articles; these were most recently featured in Stepping Stone, Carrier Management Magazine, and Broker World. Margaret is also called on to speak at many regional and national conferences, including those of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), the Loss Executives Association (LEA), the Chicagoland Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA), the American Society of Workers Comp Professionals, Inc. (AMCOMP), the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and the Chicago Actuarial Association (CAA).

THE JACOBSON GROUP: The Jacobson Group is the leading provider of insurance talent. For more than 40 years, we have been connecting organizations with insurance professionals from the board room to the back room on both a permanent and temporary basis. We offer a variety of solutions including executive search, professional recruiting, emerging talent, RPO, temporary staffing, subject matter experts, and onsite and work-at-home operations support. Additionally, insurance professionals rely on us for career guidance, job opportunities, and temporary and consulting assignments. Regardless of the need or situation, Jacobson is the insurance talent solution. Further information is available at www.jacobsononline.com

Expanding Roles of the Actuary, Analyst, and Researcher (Previously Health – Predictive Analytics)

Session Description:

Technological advancements and the availability of "big data" present businesses with opportunities that never existed before. These opportunities, however, do not come without risks to the naïve information consumer. Actuaries, analysts, and researchers have an obligation to not only leverage these advancements, but to also protect their organizations from misinformation and flawed conclusions that are becoming commonplace. Dr. Grana will lead a session touching upon some analytical risks that may not be apparent to the lay population.

Speaker(s):

James Grana is the Divisional Vice President for the Health Services and Outcomes Research Department within the Clinical Office at the Walgreens Corporate Office. He is responsible for research and advanced analytical activities that center on specialty drug, infusion, retail drug, health clinic, immunization, and digital health. Dr. Grana joined Walgreens in 2014. He has a Ph.D. in Health Policy with a concentration in applied statistics and health economics. Prior to joining Walgreens, Dr. Grana served as the Vice President of Enterprise Analytics at Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) that focused on advanced analytics, pharmacy analytics, consumer analytics, government programs reporting, case mix adjusted provider performance measurement, medical management analytics, and the value based care analytics. Members of these teams were trained in statistics, actuarial science, and data manipulation. They conducted forecasting, program evaluations, predictive modeling, risk evaluation, and other analytical activities. Earlier in his career, Dr. Grana served as the VP of Business Data and Informatics at Assurant, a Fortune 300 Company. Preceding that role, he was he Director of Research and Quantitative Business Analytics at Aetna Inc. where he facilitated the mergers of (and subsequently led) analytical teams from Aetna, Prudential Health, New York Life Healthcare, and U.S. Healthcare. Previous to that, he was a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, the president of a consulting company, and taught health services research courses at Penn State University and The University of Scranton. Dr. Grana’s work has focused on predictive modeling, provider performance measurement, medical management, risk stratification, pharmacoeconomic studies, market research, intervention analyses, and P4P compensation systems.

2014 VBT/2017 CSO

Session Description:

This session will provide an update on the development of the 2014 Valuation Basic Tables and the 2017 CSO tables.

Speaker(s):

Tom Edwalds

Suzanne Chapa, FSA, MAAA is AVP-Financial Analysis at Midland National Life and North American Company for Life and Health. Suzanne has over 20 years experience in the life insurance industry, focusing on annuity and life insurance product development and risk management. She is a member of the team that developed the 2014 VBT.

Pension Funding Conundrum: The actuarial interest rate assumption in the new normal.

Session Description:

Post financial crisis worldwide central bank monetary policy continues to distort free market function with new normal interest rates, five years and counting. What is the outlook for interest rates from an investment manager’s perspective?

Speaker(s):

Merrill F. Rajeck CFA, Owner/Manager, Jay Company – Investment Management.

Risk Analysis of Building Energy Retrofits

Session Description:

The process of estimating the energy savings of a building retrofit is fraught with uncertainty. In this session, a framework and methodology for assessing the risk associated with energy efficiency retrofits is presented. First, uncertainties related to existing building and building retrofit information are quantified. These uncertainties include imperfect information about the building as well as inherently stochastic energy use drivers such as weather. The problem of weather uncertainty is compounded when one tries to assess the effects of climate change. The identified uncertainties are then propagated through energy models to develop probability distributions for energy savings from retrofits. Finally, the distributions are assessed to quantify the risk associated with an energy retrofit. The risk assessment can be used for rating energy efficiency loans and/or developing insurance products for energy efficiency retrofits

Speaker(s):

Dr. Ralph T. Muehleisen, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, Fellow ASA, Principal Building Scientist Argonne National Laboratory. Ralph is the Principal Building Scientist and Group Leader for the Building Energy Decision and Technology Research (BEDTR) Program at Argonne National Laboratory. At Argonne, Ralph leads a team of researchers investigating ways to reduce the energy use and carbon footprint of the built environment. His areas of research include stochastic building energy modeling, uncertainty in building energy analysis, and risk analysis of energy efficiency retrofits.

US NAIC ORSA update

Session Description:

This session will provide an update regarding the US NAIC ORSA requirement and company efforts to prepare for this requirement. Topics discussed will include: a summary of the ORSA requirement and regulatory activity, an update on the state legislative adoption process, a discussion around types of companies that will be impacted and a look ahead at what this regulation could mean for other companies that are not initially expected to file an ORSA Summary Report.

Speaker(s):

James Collingwood ASA, MAAA: James is a Manager in the Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services practice of Ernst & Young LLP’s Financial Services Office. He graduated from Drake University with a degree in Mathematics. He has nine years of actuarial consulting experience in a variety of areas including financial reporting and risk management. His current focus is on enterprise risk management and helping companies prepare for the upcoming ORSA requirements.

Kevin Piotrowski ASA, MAAA: Kevin is a Senior in the Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services practice of Ernst & Young LLP’s Financial Services Office. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with degrees in both Actuarial Science and Risk Management. He has five years of actuarial consulting experience in a variety of areas including pension, life and health. His current focus is on enterprise risk management, specifically concentrated in the health insurance sector.

ERM Under the ACA

Session Description:

The session will cover the impact of the SCOTUS decision regarding premium subsidies, demographics of those enrolling on the exchange and evolving regulatory environment. The session will also cover morbidity of those enrolling in the exchange, unintended consequences of risk adjustment and unknowns for financial reporting.

Speaker(s):

Janice Knight is Chief Actuary and divisional senior vice president Health Care Service Corporation’s (HCSC). The nation’s fourth largest health insurance company, HCSC operates the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, which together have more than 14 million members. In her role, Janice oversees health insurance pricing and underwriting for all of HCSC’s small, large and major national groups as well as for all Medicare, Medicaid and individual policyholders. In addition, she has played a crucial role in HCSC’s efforts to understand and implement provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act. Prior to joining HCSC in 1995, Janice worked for a major commercial health carrier. A highly recognized leader in her field, Janice has presented at several industry events, ranging from BlueCross BlueShield Association conferences to Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association meetings on topics ranging from actuarial issues to negotiating health reform. Janice is a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Janice received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI. She attained her Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries in 1991.

Jason Siegel performs pricing, valuation, and compliance activities for a number of individual and small group health plans. He has developed expertise in many areas of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) affecting commercial carriers, in particular the “3Rs.” He has led the development of firm-wide models to develop rates under the ACA, and to estimate accruals for new items that carriers will need to account for. Examples of Jason’s ACA expertise include:

• Developing applications for four of the first eight Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans(CO-OPs) that received federal loans
• Guiding strategic decisions related to leveraging the 3Rs, including the use of benefit plan and formulary design
• Assisting several commercial health plans with their post-ACA pricing and population modeling
• Helping plans to implement best practices around diagnosis coding and risk score optimization

IL Medicaid transitions

Session Description:

Over the last four years Illinois Medicaid has been moving from a fee-for-service system to a managed care system.  By March 2015 Illinois Medicaid expects to have 80% of its 3.3 million enrollees in mandatory managed care, most enrolled over the past year.  That’s in contrast to less than 10% of enrollees enrolled in voluntary managed care in March of 2011.  The mandatory managed care enrollment includes Medicaid’s 500K ACA Medicaid expansion adults.  Managed care entities are providing medical and long term support services via full risk and accountable care arrangements.  This session will discuss the various Illinois managed care arrangements, the actuarial considerations, and the operational challenges that managed care plans face in providing care to this unique population

Speaker(s):

Robert Mendonsa is the Deputy Administrator of Care Coordination Rate and Finance for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. In this role, Robert is responsible for overseeing the hospital and managed care rate setting and managing the ACE and CCE initiatives.Robert has extensive experience in managed care having spent 23 years at Aetna. He was a regional president for over 8 years where we he oversaw all strategic and financial decisions including pricing and provider reimbursement for a 16 state region. After a brief retirement in 2010, Robert was asked to return to Aetna as Chief Executive Officer of Aetna Better Health where he lead the implementation of the Integrated Care Program which became effective May 1, 2011 for seniors and persons with disabilities in Suburban Cook and five collar counties. Robert has a BA from the University of California at Los Angeles and an MBA from the University of Southern California.