Description: This article is a review of the book “Public Employee Pension Funds,” by Robert Tilove, published in 1976 by Columbia University Press. The book concentrates on the major public policy issues affecting plans of state and local governments. A more detailed review of this book will be published in the “Transactions.”

Description: This article is a detailed review and discussion of “The Report on Actuarial Principles and Practical Problems with Regard to Non-forfeiture Requirements, Society of Actuaries, January, 1976.” The author of the article notes that It is an important report which should be read by all members of the Society irrespective of their professional affiliations, and in its present form the report is primarily an exposure draft and the Committee will therefore, welcome comments as to its content and recommendations prior to the discussion of the report scheduled for the Houston and Chicago SOA meetings.

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: This is the first of two articles discussing the model laws governing minimum reserves and non-forfeiture values that the NAIC adopted in December 1980. The author, Chairman of the NAIC Technical Task Force on Valuation and Nonforfeiture Value Regulation, in this first article describes the objectives of the revision, which include updating assumptions, increasing flexibility, and improving the ability to deal with new types of products, the cooperative effort entailed, the actuary’s role and responsibilities in doing business under the new law, and the financial impact.

Description: The Phase 3 tax is the description given to the federal income tax imputable to amounts withdrawn from the Policyholders Surplus Account maintained under the federal income tax law. This article discusses certain facets of the federal income Phase 3 tax as it relates to these withdrawals. Still significant for a large health insurer that has been in existence since before 1984 should health care become nationalized.

Description: The SOA is shining a spotlight on its research activities as it migrates into the areas of public policy and other relevant topics.

Description: This article describes the SOA's Risk Adjustment Research project, in the context of health care reform, and the preliminary data analysis that has been completed by the Research Task Force.

Description: In Canada, the actuarial considerations involved in developing financial reporting and disclosure principles have for some years been under active study by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries CIA and others, with a goal of moving toward one system of financial reporting for all users. The author discusses current proposals starting with a 1974 report released by the CIA, and the work of an Advisory Committee with members from the actuarial and accounting professions, industry, and Provincial Insurance Departments, appointed by the Federal Superintendent of Insurance, which completed its work in the form of a written report.