Description: Representing a large indexed annuity writer, the speakers will discuss the growth and evolution of the market for index annuity products. Moreover, the challenges that growth has introduced and how those challenges are being met. While much of the market consists of simple, accumulation-oriented S&P 500 based strategies with 0% return floors, a significant portion of industry sales come from more complex products with highly customized index strategies and other features, such as living benefit guarantees. Attendees will gain a broad understanding of the indexed annuity market, product and features, operational difficulties in risk management arising from product design, and how actuarial and hedge professionals are managing these issues.

Description: The proposed revisions to the variable annuity statutory framework and the FASB targeted improvement for long duration contract, motivate life insurance companies to re-evaluate their hedging strategy. Recently proposed revisions of AG 43/VM-21 and C3 Phase II, reward companies that have a clearly defined hedging strategy, if the companies can demonstrate that the valuation model and capital model can estimate real hedge performance accurately. The speakers of this session will discuss the hedging implication of the proposed AG 43/VM-21 and C3 Phase II framework. Additionally, methodology computational requirements, back-testing results under different economic scenarios and the resulting hedge credits of different hedging strategies will be compared, including explicit dynamic hedge and implicit dynamic hedge. The speakers will also touch on the impact of rebalance frequency on the performance of dynamic hedge. Case studies will be presented to provide guidance on practical implementation.

Description: This session will review the challenges the Affordable Care Act has faced since its enactment in 2010 and will look forward to where it’s headed in the future. Panelists will discuss current ACA legislative and regulatory activities as well as ongoing ACA litigation.

Description: Intended for actuaries interested in understanding more about the Medical Loss Ratio and the impact Quality Improving Activities (QIA) and fraud reduction expenses have on the rebate calculation. This session will focus on what expenses qualifies as QIA, examples of programs from major carriers, current regulations and the differences between commercial, and Medicare, and Medicaid requirements.

Description: US pharmacy prices have entered a new era of growth driven by Specialty medications. A bevy of state and national regulations have been proposed to address pharmacy pricing, industry structure and transparency.Health actuaries will learn about US pharmacy pricing structure and how proposed legislation could affect future costs. Actuaries that have responsibility for pharmacy rate/budget setting, RFPs or trend projection will benefit from a deeper understanding of the US pharmacy market landscape and gain an international perspective.

Description: Dental care is an important component of everyone's health, and senior citizens are no exception. With no public dental coverage under traditional Medicare, seniors must seek other ways to obtain dental insurance, pay for services out of pocket, or go without care. In this session we will review the importance of oral care to overall health, the current state of public and private dental insurance for seniors, and innovative ways to reach this population. Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and other types of dental coverage will be discussed by three actuaries with different areas of expertise in the senior dental market.

Description: Beginning with the 2019 Benefit Year, CMS (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) has provided guidance that allows Medicare Advantage Plan Sponsors much greater flexibility in tailoring benefits to promote clinical, care management, and financial goals. The guidance allows for a broader menu of supplemental benefits and also enables plans to target benefit enhancements to beneficiaries afflicted with specific disease states. This session explores the ramifications of the policy changes on Plan Sponsors and beneficiaries, and discusses the different ways that Plan Sponsors are taking advantage of the additional flexibility.

Description: Learn the fundamentals, promises and myths of blockchain technology; why it's important and relevant today, and how it's evolving our relationships with data, analytics and the science of product development and maintenance. Discuss examples and details with Susan Joseph, and Truman Esmond, VP Solutions and Partnerships for AAIS and Technical Lead for openIDL, AAIS's blockchain network for regulatory reporting.

Description: This year's session will focus on the recruiting side - trends in what companies look for, trends in candidate interests, and methods for finding the right candidate

Description: Recent Population Cause of Death Trends and Implications for Life Insurance