SCHAUMBURG, Ill., June 29 -- With national healthcare spending expected to rise by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years, there needs to be a greater emphasis on finding ways to reduce healthcare cost trends. According to the findings from two recent surveys by the Society of Actuaries (SOA), actuaries and consumers both believe that more transparency within the U.S. healthcare system is the key to bending the cost curve downward: Actuaries believe there needs to be more transparency between doctors and patients, while consumers feel they could make more informed decisions if they had more information on medical procedures and options for care.
]]>"We are excited to have Larry rejoin Sun Life Financial," said Thompson. "Larry's deep knowledge of our organization and his broad actuarial and financial experience fits well with our focus of enhancing our financial and risk management capabilities."
]]>Cheiron has been the $4.3 billion system’s actuary since 2005. Board rules adopted in 2008 require the system to hire an independent actuary if the system has the same actuary for more than five consecutive years.
]]>Culver has directed the state insurance commissioner to “stay” the premium increase. He’s calling for “a third party, independent actuary” to review the matter and determine whether the rate increases are justified. Rob Schweers, a spokesman for Wellmark, says his company doesn’t object.
“We intend to cooperate fully with the insurance commissioner in an independent, actuarial review of the data that supports our recent, individual rate increases in the individual, under 65 market,” Schweers says. “And by individual, we’re talking about people who buy their own policy as opposed to people who have a group policy through their employer.”
]]>Aon Consulting said Friday it agreed to buy a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s retirement unit for an undisclosed amount.
JP Morgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies, a division of JP Morgan Retirement Plan Services LLC, provides compensation, retirement and health care actuarial services.
]]>The president-elect, Bruce Schobel, is one of America’s foremost authorities on the Social Security system. He is also a onetime convicted felon who, according to court records, served time three decades ago for “assault with a dangerous weapon while demanding property” in New Jersey. Few know this, though, because his record has been expunged.
Mr. Schobel has put many productive years between himself and his conviction. The matter would probably be entirely unknown if it had not surfaced in the profession’s long-running debate about actuarial accountability, and the way numbers bearing little resemblance to reality keep turning up at the scene of failed insurance companies, collapsed pension funds and states that cannot balance their budgets.
]]>During the past month, the Board of the American Academy of Actuaries has engaged in egregious and unprecedented behavior that has interfered with and prevented me from continuing my good work as a leader of the actuarial profession and has harmed me personally. Because negotiations have proven to be fruitless, I have found it necessary to file suit against the Academy in the United States District Court in Washington, DC. I am confident that the court will remedy this bad situation and provide justice. I am eager to continue performing my duties as president-elect and a director of the Academy and look forward to becoming president on October 26.Bruce
Further information is available at:
http://www.bakosenterprises.com/Academy/
AAA Board Composition Documentation
IL Not For Profit Corp Act - 1986
Complaint filed by Bruce Schobel against the AAA
Defendant's Memo in Opposition
Declaration of Mary Downs & Exhibits
The members of the Nominating Committee are Steve Lehmann, Chairperson, Bill Bluhm, Vice Chairperson, John Parks, Tom Finnegan, Roger Hayne, Mike McLaughlin, Larry Sher, and a regular member of the Academy’s Board of Directors to be selected shortly by Mr. Parks.
Bruce Schobel was named president-elect of the AAA in October 2008. The AAA and Bruce Schobel have not yet commented on the vacancy.
"Especially given the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) most recent estimates, all stakeholders must engage in a new dialogue to establish mutual understanding as to what will lead to real and quantifiable health cost savings," said Al Bingham, Jr., the American Academy of Actuaries vice president for health issues.
Bingham said the actuaries believe that a new dialogue, and subsequent legislation, must strive for a cost-savings program that is achievable, credible and "score-able."
"Unless health care spending is controlled, health reforms to reduce the number of uninsured will not achieve their goals," Bingham said. "If health spending continues to grow at the projected pace, health insurance premiums will continue to increase as well. Thus efforts to rein in health insurance premiums will be negated if rising health spending drives premiums to their original levels within a few years and even higher thereafter."
The Academy's Congressional briefing:
http://actuary.org/briefings/health_june09.asp
Supplemental materials:
http://actuary.org/issues/health_reform.asp
http://actuary.org/pdf/health/health_systems_june09.pdf
http://actuary.org/newsroom/pdf/healthcosts_july09.pdf
By JEREMY SINGER-VINE
When Scotland prohibited smoking in enclosed public areas and workplaces after March 2006, researchers found:
A new study from Scotland provides what public-health experts in the U.S. say is the strongest evidence yet that public bans on smoking -- being debated in several locales -- improve health by reducing exposure to secondhand smoke.
According to the study, which appears in Thursday's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, hospital admissions for heart attacks and acute coronary problems fell 17% overall, and even more for nonsmokers, in the year after Scotland banned smoking in public places.
"There has long been a claim from smokers that they are affecting their own bodies, and why should the public care?" said David Cohen, director of cardiovascular research at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo., who wasn't involved in the study. "This shows that the public should absolutely care ... that is an incredibly powerful finding."
Continue reading "Study Supports Health Benefits of Smoking Ban"
]]>“It now only costs you $10,000 to purchase a stream of income you cannot outlive,” says Rich Lindsay, senior vice president of Symetra’s Life and Annuities division. “That’s how cost-effective longevity insurance can be. With Symetra Freedom Income you get more guaranteed income down the road for less money up front.”
For example, if a client wants $2,500 a month for life and purchases a Symetra immediate single premium income annuity at age 85, the premium would cost about $185,000 at today’s rates.3 However, if a 65 year old client purchased the same monthly income to begin at age 85 through Symetra Freedom Income, the premium would cost around $31,000.
Continue reading "Longevity Insurance Pays People for Living a Long Life"
]]>CHICAGO, IL., March 20, 2008 – The Actuarial Outpost announced today that it has launched its actuarial wiki. The wiki will be used to compile information about each Actuarial Exam, the different areas of actuarial practice, current actuarial research, and other general information about the profession. The wiki can be found at this link - Actuarial Wiki.
The wiki is based off of the same powerful wiki software that runs Wikipedia.org, the online encyclopedia. The wiki currently has nine actuaries contributing to the wiki that range from current students to actuarial science professors and even moderators from Wikipedia.org. It is our hopes to create the single most valuable wiki based study tool for actuaries online, completely free of charge.
]]>A special interest group representing a number of African actuarial associations and international organizations to investigate and recommend solutions which support the development and promotion of the actuarial profession in Africa
The Task Force which held its first meeting in South Africa in November 2007 was formed at the Third International Professional Meeting of Leaders of the Actuarial Profession in English-speaking Africa which took place in June 2007 at Nairobi, Kenya. The Kenya gathering which was attended by 35 representatives from 11 African Countries was organized by the International Actuarial Association (IAA).
Professor Rama Lingham, director of the math department's Statistics Division, says job prospects are excellent, especially in this area.
“Chicago is home to numerous actuarial companies and financial institutions and actuaries are needed,” Lingham said.
Actuarial science, which requires passing a long series of increasingly difficult exams, relates to risk management and positions are most common in the insurance industry.
In addition to a good starting salary, “Employers provide generous incentives and support for people to complete each test, with a bonus system or paid study leaves,” Lingham said. “At the end of the day, the company is better off with well qualified people.”
Continue reading "Northern Illinois University (NIU) Adds Actuarial Science Degree"
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