Actuarial Research Updates from the NAIC National Meeting
March 2023
In support of the seasonal gatherings of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), members of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and volunteers with the SOA Research Institute attended the Fall 2022 National Meeting in Tampa, Florida, this past December. The meeting focused on updates on laws either pending or passed in states and other regulatory developments.
Actuarial Research Developments
SOA Research Institute staff presented at three actuarial task forces. Health research actuary Achilles Natsis, FSA, MAAA, discussed the “Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Costs” report with the Health Actuarial Task Force (HATF). He highlighted the correlation between COVID-19 diagnoses and increases in per member per month (PMPM) costs and evidence that long COVID is appearing in claims about six months or more after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
SOA Research Institute Managing Director of Research R. Dale Hall, FSA, MAAA, CERA, presented to the Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF) on several SOA mortality and longevity reports. Hall shared key takeaways from the 2022 Mortality Improvement Survey, such as that 2022 mortality improvement factors (prior to COVID-19 adjustments) were generally lower than 2019 for life insurance products. He also provided updates on the Mortality Improvement Model (MIM-2021-v3), providing a framework in projecting mortality improvement across practice areas; updates on 2020-2021 excess deaths in the general U.S. population; and a collection of data resources on climate and weather for actuaries
SOA members also participated with the Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force (CASTF) meeting, informing attendees of the SOA’s new Climate Risk Certificate and the Ethical Use of Data and Predictive Analytics Certificate Program. The members shared resources on actuarial weather extremes, a “Practical Guide for Working with Weather Data Sets”, cyber risk modeling methods and insights on auto loss trends through the pandemic.
Strengthening Connections with NAIC
The SOA Research Institute hosted a member reception with guest speaker Maryland Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Birrane, who chairs the NAIC Innovations, Cybersecurity and Technology Committee. She discussed the committee’s mission to provide a forum for regulators to discuss technology issues, monitor technological developments that may affect the insurance market and make regulatory recommendations when appropriate. Birrane shared with SOA members her committee’s work on developing a framework for the use of artificial intelligence and algorithms in the insurance industry that prevents inadvertent bias.
The SOA members and staff also had the opportunity to celebrate the NAIC’s Journal of Insurance Regulation (JIR) 40th anniversary, a peer-reviewed publication of legal, economic and public policy analyses and empirical studies on insurance regulation. Hall serves on JIR’s editorial review board, and he attended the event, which included a presentation from Elizabeth Plummer and William Wempe of Texas Christian University, who are Kimball Award-winning authors, and a panel discussion on the past and future of regulatory research.
Hall noted, “We are able to support the NAIC’s regulation activities by providing research and insights at these types of NAIC meetings. We value the opportunity to offer research that shapes these ideas and processes—for our members and the industry at whole.”
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