Description: This is Part 2 of a summary of the new, upcoming Social Insurance Law in China. Part 1 was presented in the July 2011 issue of 'In the Public Interest.'

Description: Summary of interview with Bob Collett and Fred Kilbourne regarding their work on the Critical Review of the U.S. Actuarial Profession

Description: Article describes several options for limiting increases in health care costs and urges actuarial profession to be more proactive in asdvocating for reform.

Description: Assesses the impact of ACA on public financing of all health and disability benefits - Medicare, Medicaid, Exchanges

Description: State and local pension plans provide their stakeholders with a great deal of information. However, that information is typically not presented in a user-friendly way. Summary documents often fail to give their readers a clear and comprehensive picture of a plan's finances. The premise of the SOA Project described in this article is that there is a need for concise summary reviews of a plan's operations. The Project's mandate included the preparation of two sample reviews of two different state systems that might serve as models, but not rigid templates for reviews prepared by plan management. This article describes and compares the two reviews and their accompanying dashboards, and also addresses the Project's broader goals. The article emphasizes that it is not the exact shape or format of a summary review that matters, but how effectively it conveys the current state and prospects of a plan's finances.

Description: Editorial promoting volunteerism

Description: Description of Social Security COLA for December 2020 and wage-indexed program parameters for 2021.

Description: Compares the healthcare system of the US to the universal systems of selected other countries. Relies primarily on information compiled annually by The Commonwealth Fund. Will give the reader an understanding of the difference between universal healthcare, socialized medicine, and single-payer healthcare and how various national systems fall within these categories.

Description: States can make ACA markets more attractive by enforcing compliance. Unlike other state opportunities, it doesn't cost anything. Pennsylvania made the change this year.

Description: This article is a book review of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism written by Anne Case and Angus Deaton. The book highlights factors that have attributed to the decline in life expectancy in the U.S. over the past two decades. Overall, there has been a significant increase in deaths of despair from drug overdoses, suicides, and alcoholic liver disease that has impacted life expectancy. The review of this book highlights key points and factors in this increase in deaths of despair based on the research of the authors. From an actuarial perspective, this book identifies areas within the U.S. society and economy that would continue this trend and impact future mortality rates and improvement scales.