Description: A summary of Medicare reform and its effect on prescription drug coverage.

Description: The article provides a complete and rigorous analysis based on calculus for the topics in the theory of compound interest: the monotone convergence properties of the rates of interest and discount payable m times per interest conversion period in relation to the force of interest, the monotone convergence properties of the present value and accumulated value of an ordinary annuity with m payments per interest conversion period in relation to those of a continuously paying ordinary annuity and a method for approximating the present value of an ordinary annuity, or an increasing annuity with m payments per interest conversion period, by accumulating, at compound interest for the fraction m - l/2m of an interest conversion period, the present value of the same type of annuity with one payment per interest conversion period.

Description: This paper presents a random selection method with the Monte Carlo simulation technique in the estimation of loss reserves. The future loss development factors are randomly selected from a weighted empirical distribution of observed loss development factors. This nonparametric approach provides an estimate of the distribution of total loss reserve.

Description: The study of Employee Benefits has always been aided by using financial algorithms. During recent semesters, the Lotus 1-2-3 package Lotus has been introduced to students due to the explosion of its use in the business community. This paper will show how our students use Lotus to design a spreadsheet for computing minimum annual distributions from tax-sheltered plans.

Description: A contingency table is a set of counts or frequencies obtained by classifying observations in two or more different ways. Log-linear analysis is applied to disability terminations, linking them to variables such as sex, age, region and maximum benefit period. Application to risk classification and underwriting are outlines.

Description: This paper presents an approach to analyzing continuing care retirement community [CCRC] data, and demonstrates the methods using data from a large CCRC. It is assumed that residents make transitions among a number of states that represent the levels of care required by residents. There is randomness associated with both the transition times and the states entered at these times. The model is conveniently characterized in terms of transition intensity functions, which represent the instantaneous rates of transition between pairs of states.

Description: This paper proposes guiding principles for a simpler, more effective pension funding system that would better serve plan sponsors, their participants, the regulating agencies, and the general public. The objective of the new system would be to have plan assets funded at termination liability over a reasonable period of time. From The Future of Pension Plan Funding and Disclosure Monograph, M-RS05-1.

Description: All claim reserve systems endeavor to derive estimates of the unpaid portion of claims which have been incurred over a given period of time, making use of information on numbers of claims and amounts paid on claims as of the valuation date. In this paper, a claim reserve system is described. While the system does produce the traditional type of single-point estimates of claim reserves, it also provides the user with frequency distributions of claim reserves

Description: This paper discusses the actuarial risk measures and uses a variety of estimation techniques such as nonparametric approach, parametric methods and robust procedures. From 39th Actuarial Research Conference, Iowa City, Iowa, August 5-7, 2004.

Description: In addition to death and maturity guarantees on the mutual funds they sell, some insurance companies make it possible for the investor to extend the guarantees for a fixed number of years. In this paper, we consider the case when that option is of the European type that is, the investor, at maturity, can either close out the contract or extend it for the stated, fixed term. When extended, the guarantee is on the value of the fund at the original maturity date. The fund is assumed to be fully invested in common stock.