Description: These are discussion papers on the paper, 'The ELAS Life Income Mortality Table' by Harry Walker. That paper describes the derivation of the ELAS Life Income Mortality Table, which has been adopted by the Equitable Life Assurance Society as the mortality basis for the life income option of the modes of settlement in its current series of policy forms and for the calculation of premiums under currently issued individual deferred annuity contracts.

Description: This discussion covers an update on mortality research. Specifically, it highlights the long term conditional survival of cancer patients, recent trends in the mortality of the aged, parametric models for life insurance mortality data, and shares an exposure draft of the derivation of the 1983 table A for individual annuity valuation. From Record of the Society of Actuaries 1981, Volume 7, No. 4.

Description: An analysis of population mortality at the older ages in the United States. The analysis is based principally on data obtained for calendar years 1968-69 in the operations of the Medicare program. In addition, the author develops mortality rates by single ages at the very high ages 85 and over, using the extinct cohort method based on deaths recorded through the vital statistics system in calendar years 1951-68.

Description: a review of a paper by R. H. Daw, F.I.A. entitled “Smallpox and the Double Decrement Table: a piece of actuarial prehistory.”

Description: Following up on recent articles on claim reserves and retrospective testing, this article examines some data quality and methodology issues related to calculating LTCI claim reserves.

Description: Recent trends in mortality suggest that future gains in life expectancy will occur after age 80. This fact stresses the need and the importance to obtain precise measures of mortality at the highest ages, which are always subject to uncertainty due to misreporting of age at death.

Description: Transcript of the Q&A period from Session 5B.