Description: Report on results of survey designed to get feedback on some hot topics in industry - namely predictive analytics and accelerated & enhanced underwriting.

Description: Results of survey conducted in July 2006 about the methods used by insurers to develop their pricing mortality assumptions for fully underwritten life insurance in the U.S. The objective was to understand how companies adjust base mortality tables and whether mortality improvement was assumed.

Description: This study was sponsored by the Society of Actuaries Health Section. This paper explores the relative significance of aging as a determinant of financial cost of health care beyond age 50, with particular attention to the effect for ages 65 and older. The paper presents concepts of aging factors and aging curves, which define relative values between ages for utilization or cost of health care services. General conclusions are drawn from Medicare data that utilization and cost differ by age, but that aging factors vary across services and may be less significant at very old ages. The author then turns to the question of measuring the significance of an aging curve assumption and what accuracy is lost in the simpler alternative of a single value across an age range.

Description: This paper describes seven methods used in care management in the order of their historical development: 1. Pre-Authorization 2. Concurrent Review 3. Case Management 4. Demand Management 5. Disease Management 6. Specialty Case Management 7. Population Health Management Paper 1 of a 8 paper series

Description: This article discusses Internal Revue Code, ‘IRC,’ Sections 7702 and 7702A with respect to the implementation of the 2001 CSO Mortality Table, which must be used in the calculations for policies issued on or after January 1, 2006. “The insurance industry has requested guidance from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service on the proper application of the current computational rules to the 2001 CSO Mortality Table but, to date, such guidance has not been provided. Therefore, the Taxation Section established the 2001 CSO Maturity Age Task Force, the members of which authored this article, to propose methodologies that would be actuarially acceptable under Sections 7702 and 7702A of the Code for calculations under contracts that do not provide for actual maturity before age 100.” This article summarizes the task force recommendations.

Description: This article reviews the dynamics of surrender risk, briefly discusses current valuations in the Interest Rate option markets and presents some tailored structured hedging instruments that can be used to manage this risk.

Description: The author uses football to demonstrate the axiom of downside risk, and how it can be applied in business situations when considering whether to use a conservative or aggressive approach.

Description: There are many factors involved with managing the financial condition of an insurance company and the factors usually fall into on of three categories: earnings management, capital management and risk management. Transfer pricing involves assigning a price for the use of funds that are transferred within the company.

Description: Unintended consequences of certain approaches used by companies to satisfy FAS 113 reinsurance accounting.

Description: Review of modeling of impact of proposed GAAP changes and commentary on preparedness based on company survey.