Description: This paper is from Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1955 Volume 7, Number 17. The author describes the 1954 amendments to Social Security, with a comparison to the 1950 and 1952 amendments, all of which primarily affected the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance [OASI] system, increasing benefits. Data on experience under the 1950 and 1952 amendments is provided. The author discusses the major changes enacted under the 1954 amendments, among them extension of coverage, increases in benefits and an increase in the maximum wages subject to contributions.

Description: This article is a review of the 1977 book “The Future of Social Security,” by Alicia H. Munnell, formerly on the staff of the Brookings Institution and now an Assistant Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The author of this review notes that the financial problems of the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program have drawn considerable public attention during the past few years, and this has produced quite a number of books and papers on the subject with various recommendations as to what should be done about the future of the program. The reviewer thinks highly of this book, which covers the philosophical questions of individual equity vs. social adequacy, and the question of the effect of OASDI on savings and capital accumulation. Note: A detailed review of the book will appear in the Transactions.

Description: Summarizes two Social Security Administration Actuarial Notes by the author. One compares actual experience under the Medicare program for the first full year of operation with the cost estimates that were made early in 1965. The second analyzes the annual death rates of the United States population aged 65 and over, before and after Medicare, for fiscal years 1961-68.

Description: The author gives his opinions of the cause of the health care financing crisis and ever increasing health care costs.

Description: The Social Security Act provides that, on or before April 1 of each year, the Board of Trustees of the OASDI trust funds and the two Medicare trust funds should submit to Congress reports presenting statistical operational data, future cost estimates, other actuarial analyses, and financing recommendations. The 1975 Report shows the worsening financial plight of the program.

Description: This article discusses Medicare cost, specifically the hospital utilization rate and the average daily cost of hospitalization and the effect of Medicare on the great increases in health care costs since 1965.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'Fundamental Mathematics of Life Insurance' by Floyd S. Harper and Lewis C. Workman, 2. 'Mathematics of Compound Interest' by Marjorie V. Butcher and Cecil J. Nesbitt, 3.'Compound Interest and Annuities-Certain' by D. W. A. Donald, 4. 'Demography' by P. R. Cox, 5. 'The Spirit and the Uses of the Mathematical Sciences' edited by Thomas L. Saaty and F. Joachim Weyl, 6. 'Ethics, Morality, and Insurance' by John D. Long, 7. Reports of the 1971 Advisory Council on Social Security, 8. 'Medical Care at Public Expense' by Mark V. Pauly 9. 'Eleventh Actuarial Valuation of the Assets and Liabilities under the Railroad Retirement Acts as of December 31, 1968, with Technical Supplement' by the Railroad Retirement Board, 10. 'Nouvelles tables-types de mortalité' by Sully Ledermann, 11. 'A Table of Expected Working Life for Men, 1968' by Howard W. Fullerton, 12. 'Disability-Determination and Evaluation' by Henry H. Kessler, 13. 'Industrial Safety Statistics: A Re-examination' by Jerome B. Gordon, Allan Akman, and Michael L. Brooks, 14. 'Pensions and Severance Pay for Displaced Defense Workers' by Hugh Folk and PauI Hartman, 15. 'Trends and Variations in Fertility in the United States' by Clyde V. Kiser, Wilson H. Grabill, and Arthur A. Campbell, 16. 'Benefit Plans in Junior Colleges' by Francis P. King, 17. 'The Consumer's Guide to Insurance Buying' by Vladimir P. Chernik, and 18. 'Private Pension Scheme Finance' by Sylvia and Leslie Tutt. Notices of other studies and articles are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 1, No. 67.

Description: The article notes, as explained in Norman Solomon’s paper, TSA XV, 167, so-called windfall appropriations are required annually to finance dual benefits to which certain railroad workers became eligible under the Railroad Retirement Act in consequence of pre-1975 employment that entitled them to both Railroad Retirement and Social Security benefits. The author then notes that the Office of Management and Budget has arbitrarily reduced revised appropriations, and that “the actuarial profession should take a strong stand against this by-passing of actuarial determinations.”

Description: Highlights the recent changes to Social Security and Medicare from enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Also highlights some changes voted in by one of the houses but not by both, and therefore not enacted.

Description: This article is about the role of interest in financing the OASDI system and assumptions if the OASDI system is funded in the future so that it is on a current cost basis.