Description: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently created a Financial Advisory Industry Review (FAIR) panel to review the practices of the financial advisory market in Singapore and increase the standards and professionalism of the FA industry in the distribution of life insurance products in Singapore.

Description: Insurers are becoming increasingly involved in the development and marketing of prepaid health care service plans, or Health Maintenance Organizations HMOs. The article describes four different approaches for establishing capitation rates for HMOs 1. Integrated Budgeting Approach, 2. Inventory Approach, 3. Group Insurance Rating, and 4. Actuarial Approach.

Description: For a long time the primary focus of private LTC insurance companies has been to educate the public about the need for private LTC insurance and to make the product more acceptable to a wider population. To this end there have been numerous changes to the product design to make this product more acceptable to general population. However, one of the things that may have been overlooked in those product design changes is the need for alignment of policyholder and insurance company’s interests, which is to make coverage more affordable and to reduce adverse selection. Incentivizing good behavior from policyholders can not only make LTC insurance policies less expensive but also help policyholders make better health choices, which can help them stay healthy for a longer time. These incentives may also reduce some of the inherent risks in a long term care policy and may help in increasing the sales of private LTC insurance.

Description: The Minnesota Cognitive Acuity Screen MCAS is a brief cognitive screen that has been validated to correctly identify mild to moderate cognitive impairment in 98.1 percent of all cases. The MCAS has been in use in the LTCI industry for more than five years, and has shown excellent results in reducing early cognitive claims.

Description: Article Society Of Actuaries Minority Scholarship Program by Winn, January 1979, Volume 13, Number 1

Description: Discusses creating a user-friendly [and bullet-proof] spreadsheet.

Description: This article covers the American Academy of Actuaries’ “Model Governance Checklist” that was created in response to PBR regulatory model governance needs.

Description: A bipartisan Maryland effort created a PUBLIC/PRIVATE Governor's Task Force to develop recommendations to educate residents regarding LTC risk and planning.

Description: The article explores the lack of focus of Social Security reform proposals on the the next twenty years and the imminent drawing down of the Social Security Trust Fund sometime near the end of that period.