Description: Updates on the efforts of the Academy’s health practice council. its work groups and task forces, to educate health care policymakers on issues including principles for reform, Medicare, the individual insurance market, and risk factors.

Description: Review of 2010 events and accomplishments of the Untapped Opportunities work group for the Health Section: market research analyzing the perceptions and potential roles of actuaries in the broader health care industry, educational programs on medical and clinical matters, planned research destined to expand brand awareness of health actuaries, and building organizational partnerships.

Description: The article discusses the sustainability of the ACA individual market from a public entitlement standpoint. A key point of measuring sustainability is the reliance on market forces rather than federal budget constraints. The article explains why an actuarial viewpoint of sustainability is necessary to a greater extent than other public assistance and social insurance programs. The article challenges actuaries to be a bold, objective voice in a space that is full of opinionated but often uninformed viewpoints.

Description: This article discusses reasons why the Society of Actuaries is not vocal in expressing its opinion.

Description: Personal highlights of a pension actuary's 10 years with the U.S. Social Security Administration and Senate staff, applying his experience and skills to emerging issues. He recommended that the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees use index funds for common stocks, giving employees an attractive way to invest while keeping politics out of stock selection.

Description: Summary of testimony by an AAA Board member before a congressional subcommittee, as an expert on risk assessment and adjustment, especially in relation to Medicare risk contracting and HMO payments. She recommended: mitigating the geographical region values, credibility weights for payments to health plans, carving out high cost claim segments, reengineering the ACR methodology, shifting AAPCC methodology from fee-for-service toward competitive bidding, and further projects to improve risk methods.

Description: Linda M. Springer, FSA, MAAA, spent more than 25 years in the financial services industry in executive positions responsible for general and financial management and strategic operational planning. Springer is now the eighth director of the United States Office of Personal Management. In this interview, she discusses government life, on–the–job challenges and how her actuarial background has helped her progress in her career.

Description: Book review: George W. Bush memoir

Description: Written from a regulatory perspective, the article covers the purpose of regulation and some regulatory expectations. The topics include the appointed actuary's involvement in corporate governance, reasonability of results when compared to prior results, data quality, familiarity with the company's annual statement and applicable statutes, and areas where appointed actuaries can add value though services provided to smaller life insurance companies.