On Home Turf: The SOA Participates in NAIC Summer 2024 Meeting in Chicago
August 2024
The Society of Actuaries (SOA) joined the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) 2024 Hybrid NAIC Summer National Meeting in Chicago from August 12 to 15. SOA and SOA Research Institute staff and volunteers went to Chicago’s McCormick Place to share key research findings and discuss related topics of interest with regulators and other insurance experts.
In addition to the SOA, about 2,500 state insurance regulators, industry representatives and others attended the hybrid meeting, which is the second of three annual national NAIC meetings.
Sharing Updates on the AI Safety Institute Consortium
R. Dale Hall, FSA, CERA, MAAA, Managing Director of Research, SOA Research Institute, presented information to commissioners attending the NAIC Innovation, Cybersecurity and Technology (H) Committee meeting about the SOA Research Institute’s involvement with the AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), which is organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He explained to the committee that the SOA Research Institute joined 200 leading AI stakeholders, including Fortune 500 technology companies, other research organizations and academic research universities.
Hall introduced the committee to the consortium’s five main working groups:
- Risk Management for Generative AI
- Synthetic Content Detection and Authentication
- Capability Evaluation of Safe AI Testing and Auditing
- Red-teaming Guidelines for Safe Deployment of AI
- Safety and Security
The consortium published an evolving AI risk management framework in July 2024, Hall told the committee. This framework has similar language to the NAIC AI Model Bulletin released late last year, and it ensures good governance of generative AI models, transparency, and disclosure of the risk management and governance processes that were used.
The SOA Research Institute drafted a comment letter on the implementation of the consortium’s framework to ensure it continues to focus on the uniqueness of the insurance and financial services industries and that AI-driven algorithms avoid creating bias.
Hall shared other activities of the SOA Research Institute involving AISIC, such as ongoing interaction with its working groups and the development of an advisory group of SOA members.
The SOA Research Institute has also responded to a request for information from the U.S. Treasury Department, said Hall. It shared with the department its research on the responsible use of AI, the avoidance of bias in insurance operations and common actuarial practices in the use of machine learning, AI and genAI.
Presenting Recent Life Research
Hall updated the Life (A) Task Force (LATF) on the SOA Research Institute’s latest Experience Pro studies, 2015-2022 Fixed Rate Deferred Surrender Study and the 2015-2021 Universal Life Premium Persistency Study. These two reports and data packages are the latest releases in the Experience Studies Pro series. Hall also presented an overview of other experience studies and practice research completed by the SOA Research Institute.
Applying Total Risk Analysis in Health Care Spending
Achilles Natsis, FSA, MAAA, Health Research Actuary, SOA Research Institute, presented findings from the report, Health Care Provider Consolidation and Shortages to the Health (A) Task Force (HATF). He shared that 1,887 hospital mergers occurred between 1998 and 2021 and in 2023 68% of community hospitals were part of larger systems. Natsis reviewed some of the reasons for consolidations and acquisitions and the impacts on cost and utilization. He also discussed provider shortages and their effect on cost and utilization.
Natsis also presented a new methodology for drug pricing as covered by the SOA Research Institute report, Reimagining Pharmacy Financing. He explained how the report looked at diabetes drugs, such as GLP-1s, and high-cholesterol medications, like statins and PCSK9s, as case studies for the new approach.
Natsis closed his presentation with an overview of other experience studies and practice research completed by the SOA Research Institute Health Care Cost Trends Strategic Research Group.
A Lively Discussion About New Ideas
The SOA hosted a reception dinner for about 50 SOA members at the Chicago Firehouse restaurant. Utah Insurance Commissioner Jon Pike attended as the guest speaker, and he discussed the nonfiction book Think Again by Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist. Pike’s lively talk focused on how receptivity to new ideas can be not only enlightening but also result in innovative solutions. A Q&A session followed the discussion.
Learn more about SOA Research Institute activities and explore its wide range of research across practices.