Description: Increasing technology is available to create and disseminate educational resources worldwide. In response, this article advocates creation of open educational resources (OERs) that will benefit the actuarial profession with both recruitment and retention of members. Specifically, we describe OER contributions made at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and more recently through the ASTIN Academy, a working group of ASTIN, the non-life section of the International Actuarial Association. We advocate pushing boundaries and creating new ways of teaching effectively for the future. The innovative use of technology and open-source materials is a way to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in the actuarial profession.

Description: This article addresses how the ARPA has lessened the financial burden on sponsors of corporate defined benefit plans.

Description: Actuaries have the business acumen, problem-solving capabilities, and technical skills to develop innovative and data-driven solutions in the social insurance space. It is time we expand our scope and embrace an increased role in making a positive impact within the health care ecosystem. The primary focus of this paper is on social insurance programs dedicated to the most vulnerable population: low-income families accessing care through Medicaid. While there are numerous challenges that require other subject matter experts to take the lead, this article highlights topics where actuaries can be key players in developing and implementing tangible solutions to improve the care for the most vulnerable. Issues and solutions in this paper focus on the following three areas: 1. Access to appropriate care, 2. continuity of care, and 3. social determinants of health.

Description: Congress authorized the creation of the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council in 2018. The Council, comprised of family caregivers and experts from a wide variety of stakeholder organizations in both the private and public sector, have been engaged in an in-depth research effort over the last two years to develop recommendations and an implementation plan to address our national caregiving crisis. This article describes their work and the newly released Report to Congress.

Description: The article provides an overview of the federal tax treatment of long-term care insurance contracts, including a brief history of the tax treatment of long-term care insurance, the requirements that must be satisfied in order to be treated as qualified long-term care insurance under the Internal Revenue Code, and a brief discussion of qualified long-term care combination products and chronic and terminal illness accelerated death benefits offered under life insurance contracts.

Description: The Society of Actuaries is honored to announce the recipients of the Outstanding Session Awards for the 2021 Life Meeting that took place virtually Aug. 30 – Sept. 1.

Description: Beyond long-COVID, there are concerns about the impact of the pandemic on future mortality and morbidity trends, including the consequences of delayed care (for chronic or acute diseases) during the crisis as well as the indirect impact of the pandemic (e.g. through increased economic uncertainty, the current inflation which results in part from the stimulus package deployed during the lock-downs, and the mental health crisis associated to the social isolation of 2020/2021).

Description: As actuaries in health care, we spend most of our time focused on reviewing claims, enrollment and clinical data. That information is captured while patients are in health care facilities. Yet most people spend only a small fraction of their time in these facilities. This article explores what types of data are available to actuaries the provide a more holistic view of the member so that a members physical and emotional needs, the social determinants of health can be taken into consideration along with their clinical needs. Two uses cases are presented so actuaries can see how these types of analyses can be leveraged to improve clinical, operational, and financial performance of risk bearing health entities. Understanding the customer (member) not just the patient enables actuaries to provide new insights and values to our stakeholders across a wide range of business and risk applications.

Description: The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) recently released their annual health care cost and utilization report on February 13, 2020. This report illustrates employer group commercial health care costs and trends from 2014 – 2018.

Description: This article is a book review of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism written by Anne Case and Angus Deaton. The book highlights factors that have attributed to the decline in life expectancy in the U.S. over the past two decades. Overall, there has been a significant increase in deaths of despair from drug overdoses, suicides, and alcoholic liver disease that has impacted life expectancy. The review of this book highlights key points and factors in this increase in deaths of despair based on the research of the authors. From an actuarial perspective, this book identifies areas within the U.S. society and economy that would continue this trend and impact future mortality rates and improvement scales.