Description: The panelists in this session discuss recent developments impacting the actuarial valuation of retiree health benefits. Topics include Medicare prescription drug reform, FAS 106, and proposed GASB statements. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 30, No. 1, Session 19

Description: Presented at May 2000 Spring Meeting. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 dramatically changes the competitive landscape for Medicare products by establishing the Medicare+Choice program. This session recaps the Balanced Budget Act's impact on payment rates for capitated plans and the effects that the changes have made on benefit design and enrollment trends in certain geographical areas.

Description: This discussion is about post-retirement health benefits, plan design, retiree eligibility criteria and premiums, controlling costs for pre-Medicare retirees and valuation of liabilities. From Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 15, No. 1.

Description: This article summarizes the work of the SFAS No. 106 implementation task force which was formed to consider the needs of practicing actuaries, inform the appropriate standing committees of these needs, and prompt these committees toward quick resolution of any outstanding issues.

Description: Presented at May 2000 Spring Meeting. Examines benefit plan design dynamics, including FAS 106 impacts, involved in Medicare retiree plans by discussing some typical examples.

Description: The unfunded obligations of U.S. employers for postretirement health benefits are enormous. While estimates of the obligation vary widely from under $100 billion to over $1 trillion, the Government Accounting Office estimate is about $400 billion. FASB has a new proposed method for accounting for post-retirement benefits other than pensions.

Description: This article provides a guide to setting discount rates. Guidance within FAS 106 and FAS 87 is reviewed in light of evolving practice and business climate.

Description: This is a discussion about employee benefit plans after retirement. The following questions are addressed: 1. To what extent are death benefits and medical benefits for employees and dependents kept in force after the employee retires?, 2. Where there is a continuation of such benefits for a retired employee or his dependent, what special problems can result from remarriage or reemployment, or in the event of the enactment of a federal plan?, 3. What methods of paying for or funding such costs are used?, and 4. What are the tax implications to both the employee and employer of the various approaches? Also discussed are insured vs. non-insured plans and valuation standards for pension plans. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1964, Vol. 16 Pt. 2.

Description: This discussion on retirement benefits looks at plans most suitable for the smaller company and if it is practical to provide hospital and surgical benefits to retired employees and their dependents. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1953, Vol. 5, No. 12.

Description: This excerpt from the 2001 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund describes the basic methodology and assumptions used in the estimates for the intermediate assumptions. Also presented are the projections of program costs under the twp alternative sets of assumptions.