Description: Insurance commissioners and deputy insurance commissioners will discuss current topics including health care reform, life insurance issues, risks in the major medical markets, voluntary products and other topics.

Description: Presenters will explore how climate risks are measured scientifically, and in what ways the insurance and reinsurance industries can play a larger role in managing risk. In an accessible manner and assuming no scientific background from the audience, we will review and discuss the background of climate science, and the unique role that the insurance industry can play. Specifically, we will discuss outcomes from a recent interdisciplinary workshop, 'The Nexus of Climate Data, Insurance, and Adaptive Capacity,' held November 2018 at The Collider in Asheville, NC. The workshop facilitated a national, interdisciplinary scientific research discussion on modeling and managing climate change risks between three different, but related research communities: the climate modeling and data community, statisticians, and researchers within the insurance and reinsurance industries. Co-sponsors of the workshop include the Society of Actuaries (SOA), the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Statistics and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI)

Description: With the growth in SOA podcasts over recent years, here’s your chance to be part of the “live studio audience” for an upcoming podcast release. Inspired by The Social and The View, join us in our talk show setting as we discuss current and emerging topics in the actuarial profession, with incoming SOA President Andy Rallis as one of the many guests we’ll bring to the stage just after Tuesday’s Presidential Luncheon. This rapid-fire session will incorporate audience participation, opportunities to be part of the podcast during question-and-answer sessions and highlight new SOA section, research and education activities. Stay tuned after the meeting to listen in to the session through SOA podcast feeds.

Description: The presenters will discuss recent developments related to the federal qualification and taxation of life insurance and annuity contracts. Among other topics, there will be a focus on comparing and contrasting life insurance product qualification in the U.S. under IRC sections 7702 and 7702A versus qualification in Canada under the 'exempt test' of the Income Tax Act, which has been revised in recent years. Discussion will include comparisons of Canadian provisions to U.S. definition of life insurance and Modified Endowment Contract concepts.

Description: The National Academy of Social Insurance (the Academy) recently released a comprehensive study on models for states interested in pursuing social insurance initiatives for LTSS, paid leave and child care reform. The report explores strategies that states could pursue to better support families in meeting evolving care needs over the lifespan. Actuarial projections for illustrative policy options are included. The presenters will report back the Academy study panel's findings, provide in-depth insights into Washington State's new long-term care social insurance program, and briefly report on other state activity in the LTSS and paid leave domains.

Description: To some degree, we all operate in an environment influenced by regulation and accounting standards. This session builds on the first session in this series by considering how regulators are reacting to the biometric influencers, then delving into the impact of changing accounting standards on how firms assess, value and report on their business. Consideration will be given to uncertainties around pending regulation, including those uncovered in the process of firms implementing Principles Based Reserving and those yet to come with modifications to GAAP. This session is for anyone interested in better understanding the impact and influence that regulatory and reporting uncertainty has on their work.

Description: Administration system updates and conversions. Legacy systems and their associated problems. Continued low interest rates and in-force policy management actions affecting policyholder behavior. These are but a few of the taxation challenges facing insurers managing the growing complexity of their businesses.<p> Presenters will consider these and other product taxation-related issues, highlighting ways insurers have sought to address them, their impacts, and potential mitigation strategies

Description: Retirement isn't a solo endeavor and the prospect of retirement looks starkly different depending on your family, your generation, your income and a host of other socioeconomic factors. The presenters will review the study, 'Financial Perspectives on Aging and Retirement Across the Generations' with an eye towards how these findings impact public policy, plan design for employers and financial planning for individuals and families.

Description: A pension plan uses Actuarial Equivalence to determine a 'fair' adjustment to pension benefits for form and timing of payment. The definition of Actuarial Equivalence is set in the Plan Document which may not have been reviewed for decades. With a wave of recent pension litigation in the U.S., plan sponsors, attorneys and actuaries now pay more attention to how pension plans define Actuarial Equivalence. How does a change in mortality table or interest rate affect the ultimate benefit? What are the requirements under ERISA and pertinent regulations? Are there court cases that have examined this question before? What are the issues behind the recent lawsuits and what can a plan sponsor do now to reduce their legal exposure? What alternative strategies are available for changing or not changing the definition in the plan document?