Description: An over view of recent revisions to Social Security, and their implications to the private sector of the insurance industry.

Description: Reviews the book, HMOs and the Politics of Health System Reform, by Joseph Falkson which discusses HMOs' legislative and regulatory structuring.

Description: Views of several actuarial participants in this lawsuit, regarding new buyer disclosure requirements, were printed in our May Issue. Mr. Murphy spoke for the plaintiffs, whose strongest objection to the disputed Wisconsin Regulation was its omission of the Equivalent Level Annual Dividend from the preliminary policy summary.

Description: The Actuary Vol. 22, No. 1. This article discusses the impact of a change in procedure in the financing of the US Military Retirement System. The change requires amortizing the past service liability. The impact will depend upon whether the amortization is achieved by increasing current taxes and decreasing the current deficit, or by merely increasing the national debt and leaving the current deficit unchanged. The author asserts that the new financing method will not weaken the financial condition of the military retirement system, and that it has the potential to strengthen its financial condition if the funding of the past service liability is handled appropriately.

Description: This article discusses new developments on the regulatory front. Under the new agreement, insurance company management and boards will be required to issue a statement that reflects their judgment about the firm’s viability, including its capital adequacy. The required opinion will have five elements - identifying risks, measuring risks, a risk feedback loop, a risk tolerance statement, and a risk policy.

Description: This article focuses on retirement decisions, phased retirement and related policy issues, calling for actuaries to take on leadership roles in retirement public discussion.

Description: The editorial illustrates public finance issues, focusing on the themes of Social Security and Medicare Advantage plans that are highlighted in this issue.

Description: The Life Practice Area seeks input on strategic issues including the timeliness of experience reports, the increasing levels of regulation, defending risk classification, ant the viability of the actuarial profession.

Description: This article is about the growth of health actuaries and new opportunities in light of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Balanced Budget Amendment of 1997.

Description: Discusses features and actuarial aspects of the Truth in Lending Act.