4Modeling DataIssue brief addresses catastrophe ratemaking.

Professional Education Academy casualty (Page 6) and life and health (Page 7) seminars provide critical instruction.

8Look Back at Last YearA snapshot of last year’s Academy events (Page 8) and a recap of the 110th Congress’ second session (Page 10)

122009 PreviewAcademy councils make resolutions for the new year.

In lIght of the AdoPtIon lAst sePtem-ber of ACtuArIAl guIdelIne VACArVm, which establishes principle-based reserving require-

ments for variable annuity products, and the continued progress of the standard valuation law and valuation man-ual, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the Academy focused on PBR education at the winter NAIC meeting Dec. 5-8 in Grapevine, Texas.

Tom Campbell, Academy vice president for life issues, gave a presentation to the NAIC’s PBR Working Group on the current educational program offered by the Academy’s Life Practice Council and offered some recommendations for training regulatory actuaries to work under PBR. The presentation spurred a dialogue on how the NAIC can work with the Academy and other actuarial organizations to provide such training. In the discussion that followed, the working group gener-ally agreed that education directed toward regulators should be housed within the NAIC, with the Academy and possibly the Society of Actuaries serving in sup-

porting roles. Regulators who had attended previous Academy seminars particularly praised a June 2008 introductory seminar in Orlando on the principle-based approach (PBA).

Also in the meeting, the PBR Working Group decided that the standard valuation law should be adopted by the Life and Health Actuarial Task Force (LHATF) and moved up to the Life and Annuities Committee imme-diately upon completion. The action was in response to LHATF’s inquiry about whether it should hold up the valuation law and submit it as a complete package with the valuation manual and standard nonforfeiture law once they are all adopted by LHATF.

Meanwhile, LHATF continued to make progress on elements of the principle-based reserving project. In a key section of the valuation manual, VM-20, PBR for Life Prod-ucts, the task force decided to go with prescribed default assumptions rather than to place a cap on net reinvest-ment spreads. This decision followed an informational

Winter NAIC Meeting

Academy Discusses PBR Education

some leAders rIse to Power by sheer AmbItIon, others in response to a call to public duty. Count Academy President John Parks among

the latter. With his unassuming, soft-spoken style, Parks doesn’t care for the pomp and circumstance that the lime-light of power can provide. Instead, he draws his motiva-tion for volunteering countless hours of leadership from the simple satisfaction of serving his profession.

“I tend to be the quiet guy,” says Parks, a retired employee benefits consultant from Pittsburgh. “I tend to be the listener. I gather as much information as I can and make decisions and then move ahead.”

Since his retirement from full-time work, Parks has devoted much of his time to public service, including exten-sive volunteer work on behalf of the actuarial profession.

But his involvement began much earlier. From the moment he joined the board of directors of the then-American Society of Pension Actuaries (ASPA) over a decade and a half ago, U.S. actuarial associations have

Parks Places Value in Servicenew Academy President leads by example

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Academy President John Parks

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Academy NeWS BriefsjAnUARY15 Council of U.S. Presidents meeting, Tucson, ariz.

16 academy Board of Directors meeting, Tucson, ariz.

23 actuarial collaboration meeting, Chicago

FEBRUARY19 Council of U.S. Presidents meeting, Zacatecas, Mexico

19-20 NaaC meeting, Zacatecas, Mexico

26-March 1 NCOIL spring meeting, Washington

MARCH15-18 NaIC spring meeting, San Diego

29-april 1 enrolled actuaries Meeting (academy, Caa), Washington

APRIL7 academy executive Committee meeting, Washington

MAY3-6 CaS spring meeting, New Orleans

20 Council of U.S. Presidents meeting, Washington

21 academy Board of Directors meeting, Washington

27-30 Iaa meeting, Tallinn, estonia

jUnE13-16 NaIC summer meeting, Minneapolis

jULY9-12 NCOIL summer meeting, Philadelphia

23 Council of U.S. Presidents meeting, Charlottetown, Prince edward Island, Canada

23-26 NaaC meeting, Charlottetown, Prince edward Island, Canada

AUGUST5 academy executive Committee meeting, Minneapolis

SEPTEMBER21-24 NaIC fall meeting, Washington

OCTOBER15-18 NaaC meeting, Colorado Springs, Colo.

18 Council of U.S. Presidents meeting, Colorado Springs, Colo.

21 academy Board of Directors meeting, Washington

25-29 SOa annual meeting, New York

professIonwIde searCh engIneThe North American Actu-arial Council (NAAC) has developed a comprehensive search engine that retrieves documents from all the NAAC members’ websites, as well as from the websites of the Inter-nal Revenue Service, the Inter-national Accounting Standards Board, the International Actu-arial Association, the Interna-tional Association of Insurance Supervisors, and the Social Security Administration. The engine also searches the web-sites of a number of Mexican resources, including the Bank of Mexico and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.

The search engine is hosted on the website of Mexico’s national College of Actuaries. The project was undertaken under NAAC’s mission to provide a forum to promote coordination, cooperation, and trust among the participat-

ing actuarial organizations in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

dues renewalDon’t forget to renew your Academy membership for 2009. The Academy kicked off its online dues cycle in No-vember. Members can use our fast, efficient online system 24/7. Just go to www.actuary.

org/dues.asp and log in. May 1 is the deadline to renew your Academy membership if you want to avoid a late fee and interruption of Academy publications. If you have any questions about your mem-bership status or about paying dues, contact Kasha Shelton, Academy manager of mem-bership operations (shelton@

actuary.org; 202-223-8196).

stayIng on MessageMelissa Reilly joined the Academy last month as assis-tant director for marketing, a

newly created position. Reilly, who began Dec. 15, is an expe-rienced marketing, branding, and advertising professional who will help the Academy develop marketing and public relations strategies to create increased awareness of the Academy and the actuarial profession. Most recently, Reilly was a leader in the marketing communications department at Fannie Mae. She also brings experience from a variety of settings, including ad agencies and her own independent consulting. She will work closely with the communications, public pol-icy, and membership services departments.

professIon In the spotlIghtA CareerBuilder.com article published online by CNN.com on Nov. 12 looked at the best occupations that earn twice as

THE ACADEMY HAS OUTGROwn ITS OFFICE SPACE and is moving into more accommodating quarters that will better

enable all its departments to work together in closer proximity.

On Friday, Jan. 30, the Academy will close its offices at 1100 17th Street NW and move to a new home just around the corner. All incoming and outgoing communications (including e-mail, phone service, listservs, SharePoint, and the mem-bers-only portion of Academy website) with the Academy will be suspended on that day and will resume service on Monday, Feb. 2, when the Acad-emy opens at its new location. As of Feb. 2, our new address will be American Academy of Actu-aries, 1850 M Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036-5805. All Academy phone numbers and e-mail addresses will remain the same.

the Academy Is moving!

Links to documents underlined in blue are included in the online version of this issue at www.actuary.org/update/

index.asp

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www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

much as the national median income. Topping the list—asso-ciate actuaries.

Career expert Laurence Shatkin, author of 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs, identifies actuaries as a recession-proof occupation in a Time interview published Nov. 13.

kudosThree Academy members were highlighted in Business Insur-ance’s annual feature recogniz-ing women who are doing out-standing work in the insurance, risk management, and employee benefits sectors. Rebecca Amo-

roso, a principal and consulting actuary with Deloitte Consult-ing in Summit, N.J., Alison Bor-

land, a retirement outsourcing strategy leader with Hewitt As-sociates in Nashville, Tenn., and Susan Cross, an executive vice president and global chief actu-ary for XL Capital in Hamilton, Bermuda, were all recognized in the Dec. 1 feature.

speakers BureauMarc Lambright, member of the Academy’s Uninsured Work Group and a principal with Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting in Philadelphia, ad-dressed the Temple University chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma during its actuarial enrichment workshop on Nov. 21.

Daniel Bailey, member of the Academy’s Uninsured Work Group and a consulting actu-ary with Ingenix Consulting in Rocky Hill, Conn., discussed health reform at the Nov. 12 joint meeting of the actuarial clubs of Boston and Hartford, Conn./Springfield, Mass.

In the newsAcademy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello discussed potential unintended consequences of guaranteed-issue health insur-ance laws in a November 2008 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance article. The article looked at potential health care reform

options that will be available to President-elect Barack Obama.

The Academy was cited in a Nov. 3 Fox Business News arti-cle on waiting to collect Social Security benefits. The article included a quote from then-Academy Senior Pension Fel-low Ron Gebhardtsbauer that appeared in an April online AARP Bulletin article. “Waiting until age 70 gives you a much bigger income for the rest of your life—no matter how long you live, no matter how bad the stock market,” Gebhardts-bauer said. “And your payment goes up with inflation.”

Andrew Biggs, the former dep-uty commissioner of the Social Security Administration, wrote about the November/December 2008 issue of Contingencies on his blog, “Notes on Social Secu-rity Reform.” His Nov. 13 entry discusses the Contingencies feature articles by four actuaries who explained how they would

redesign the Social Security sys-tem. The actuaries are: Thomas

Terry, the Academy’s vice presi-dent for pension issues and the CeO of JP Morgan Compensa-tion and Benefit Strategies in Chicago; Anna Rappaport, presi-dent of Rappaport Consulting in Chicago; Ken Buffin, a principal with Buffin Partners in Sparta, N.J.; and Haeworth Robertson, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration from 1975 to 1978.

Academy Immediate Past President william Bluhm’s written testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee regarding the fu-ture of oversight and regula-tion for the financial services industry was discussed in A.e. Feldman’s risk management blog on Nov. 5. Bluhm had written that actuarial risk management principles are critical to averting the types of risks that are crippling the economy.

2008 Life & Valuation Law Manual

To order, go to www.actuary.org/lhmanual.asp.

The prices listed apply to Academy members only.

Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$680

Single-User Subscription CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $525

Single-User Web Access ($320 each additional password). . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$500

Multiple-User Web Access . . . . . . . . . . . $2,300

Multiple-User Subscription CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,325

2008 P/C Loss Reserve Law Manual

To order, go to www.actuary.org/pcmanual.asp.

The prices listed apply to Academy members only.

Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,000

Single-User Subscription CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $750

Single-User Web Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . $750

Multiple-User Web Access . . . . . . . . . . . $3,000

Per-jurisdiction Web Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100

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➜ CONTINUeD frOM page 2

www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

the ACAdemy’s nAturAl CAtAstroPhe subCom-mIttee of the extreme eVents CommIttee pub-lished an issue brief on Dec. 3 to address the role of modeling

in ratemaking for catastrophic events. The issue brief offered an over-view of ratemaking issues associated with reliance on historical data, summarized some approaches used to validate catastrophe models, and discussed issues regarding the use of models in rate filings.

The subcommittee noted that the use of catastrophe models has been generally accepted as state-of-the-art for property ratemak-ing and is regarded as the best available method for estimating the prospective costs of risk transfer from natural disasters. By con-trast, historical loss information is often insufficient to reasonably estimate the likelihood of future property insurance losses from hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., meaning that estimated loss costs based on insurance claim history are not actuarially sound. The Actuarial Standards Board has promulgated actuarial standards of practice relating to the use of models, notably Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 38, Using Models Outside the Actuary’s Area of Expertise, and ASOP No. 39, Treatment of Catastrophe Losses in Property/Casualty Insurance Ratemaking.

Other drawbacks to relying on historical information in pric-ing insurance for catastrophic events, according to the issue brief, include changes in the value of exposed property, changes in build-ing codes, shifts in the location of buildings, and differing defini-tions of what constitutes a catastrophe over time. It also noted that homeowners’ property insurance products are less than 50 years old. Catastrophe models typically use at least 100 years of hazard data and produce results that generally simulate many thousands of years, allowing them to consider events that occur only every 100 or 250 years and may not be reflected in the recent historical record.

The subcommittee observed that current regulation of catastro-phe models varies greatly by state and noted that the Florida Com-mission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology, created in 1995 by the state legislature, is the gold standard for reviewing hurricane models for producing property insurance loss costs. One emerging issue is the recent introduction of short- and medium-term models and their use by reinsurers and rating agencies. The Florida com-mission has not yet considered a short- or medium-term model.

The issue brief concluded that even if state regulators restrict the use of catastrophe models for ratemaking, reinsurers, rating agencies, and capital markets will likely continue to use them. Determining an actuarially sound rate for insurance products that cover catastrophic exposure is challenging, and it may get harder if complex catastrophe models are substantially prohibited in the rate-development process. Companies may also continue to use catastrophe models for exposure management and other internal applications, thereby creating incongruity between an insurer’s view of the marketplace and the information an insurer will be permitted to use to support its rate requests.

—Lauren Pachman

Catastrophe Models Offer Ratemaking Help

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Casualty news

www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

nominations now acceptedthe Actuarial foundation annually bestows the wynn kent public Communication award to rec-ognize a member of the actuarial profession who has contributed to the public awareness of the value of actuarial science in protecting the finan-cial security of society. Actuaries in all areas of the profession are eligible.

the John hanson Memorial prize is given by the Actuarial foundation to recognize the best paper addressing an employee benefits topic. It was established in honor of John hanson, whose papers on pension funding and accounting set the standard for this important topic.

for more information or to nominate a candi-date, visit the foundation’s website. nominations are due march 15.

www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009 5

done their best to try to monopolize his time. In addition to serving as ASPA president in 2000, he has taken on a variety of leadership positions on the boards of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Academy.

“It’s been quite an honor,” he says. “The profession has been good to me. It’s nice to be able to give something meaningful back.”

Parks’ commitment to giving back extends far beyond his pro-fession and has pushed him into ambitious volunteer work in the great outdoors. Although a Steel City native, he prefers to work with wood. His interests in carpentry have led him to take on various volunteer home repair projects in Appalachia through Habitat for Humanity and his local church. On one occasion, his volunteer group “blitz-built” an entire house in one week. Other times, he and his wife, Iris, would lead teen coed Scout troops on backpacking trips through the mountains of the Southwest, including eight trips alone to Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimar-ron, N.M.

And that’s just what he did after leaving the office. During the day, Parks displayed the same energy and deference to detail in his more than 30 years as a pension actuary. After working for a con-sulting firm early in his career, Parks struck out on his own in 1979 when he co-founded Innovative Benefit Concepts in Pittsburgh. After steady success, that firm merged with another similar-sized firm several years later to form MMC&P (The “P” stood for Parks.), which continued growing until it became part of Principal Financial Group in 2001.

With an accomplished track record and an others-first attitude, he takes over the Academy at a time when it assumes leadership in unprecedented industrywide collaboration efforts as the actuarial profession forms a united front to face the economic challenges of the future.

“We need to speak with one voice,” Parks says.As critical public policy issues loom on the horizon, such as

repairing the risk management practices of U.S. financial insti-tutions, re-establishing the solvency of government entitlement programs, or overseeing the increased integration of international accounting rules, finding the right words to supply that voice is a formidable challenge. But it’s one that Parks is prepared to face with the sure-handed care of a carpenter.

“Measure twice; cut once,” Parks told attendees of the Academy annual meeting in Bonita Springs, Fla., last October. A woodwork-ing precept that emphasizes preparation and precision, it’s also, he said, an attitude that applies to the actuarial profession and to his work as president. Under the direction of the Academy’s strategic plan, Parks is confident that the foundation is in place for the profession to be a vital, trusted resource in critical public policy debates—even as the Academy continues to take advocacy positions on select issues.

“I think we’re off to a great start,” Parks said. “I think the Social Security statement, for example, was a classic issue on which the Academy can provide valued expertise. And we’re going to keep looking for those issues that are important to take a stand on.”

In those efforts, like any others, Parks doesn’t assume he has a monopoly on the right answers.

“I’m really open to any and all thoughts and ideas,” he said. “I would welcome suggestions from each and every member.”

john Parks➥ Was born in Huntingdon, Pa., and grew up in Pittsburgh,

where he still lives.

➥ Is married to Iris and is the father of two children: daughter,

Heidi, and son, John David, who died in service in the U.S.

Marine Corps in 1986.

➥ Became a member of the academy, a member of the american Society of Pension actuaries (now the american Society of Pension Professionals and actuaries), and an enrolled actuary in 1976 and became a fellow in the Conference of Consulting actuaries (CCa) in 1989. He is also a member of North american actuarial and Consulting Services, an association of independent consulting firms.

➥ Has served the academy in a variety of positions, including

as vice president of pension issues in 2002 and 2003, as

secretary-treasurer from 2004-06, and as president-elect

in 2008. He has also served on the boards of directors for

the american Society of Pension actuaries (including as

president in 2000) and the CCa (including as secretary from

2004-06). Parks is a member of a number of other academy

volunteer groups, including the Pension Practice Council,

retirement Security Principles Task force, and Technology

Committee.

➥ graduated from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., with a

bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

➥ Began his career at a Pittsburgh actuarial firm Babb Inc.,

where he worked for 17 years. Parks co-founded his own

firm Innovative Benefit Concepts in 1979. Several years

later he merged the firm with another similar-sized firm to

create MMC&P, which merged into Principal financial group

in 2001.

➥ enjoys carpentry and backpacking. He has volunteered for

numerous home repair volunteer projects with his church

and with Habitat for Humanity, including Hurricane katrina

disaster recovery. He also led teen coed Scout troops on 13

backpacking trips in the southwest.

john Parks, continued from page 1

John Parks, center, during the Academy’s 2002 Capitol hill pension visits

6www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

P/C Opinion Seminar Expands TopicsBy DaLe ogDen

the ACAdemy broke new ground lAst month as it introduced a different take on its fourth annual seminar “effective Property/Casualty Loss Reserve Opinions—Tools

for the Appointed Actuary.” Unlike prior years, in which the semi-nar repeated the same topics each day, the latest seminar, Dec. 3-4 in Baltimore, featured an expanded number of topics that kept a majority of attendees in town to participate both days.

A faculty of nine Academy members organized and presented sessions on the regulations and standards governing statements of actuarial opinion and the related documents required by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)—while at the same time providing actuaries with a forum for sharing ideas and experiences. The two days were intense and provided the par-ticipants with material that could enable them to earn seven con-tinuing education (Ce) hours for each day according to the more rigorous Ce requirements contained in the revised Qualification Standards that went into effect last year.

During the first day of the seminar, the faculty discussed the specific requirements and required disclosures surrounding the preparation of opinions. This included an in-depth review of when and how to disclose significant risks of material adverse deviation. Regulatory actuaries from various states highlighted the critical points they look for and the issues they commonly encounter in statements of actuarial opinion, actuarial opinion summaries, and actuarial reports. Attendees also learned that the data-capture for-mat has allowed regulatory actuaries to better analyze the opin-ions and that those actuaries believe the overall quality of opinions has continued to improve over the past few years.

On the second day, we added two new sessions in which par-ticipants discussed Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 43, Property/Casualty Unpaid Claim Estimates, and its implications for state-ments of actuarial opinion; various types of reserve ranges and their disclosure in the actuarial opinion summary and actuarial report; and the implications of ranges in evaluating and disclosing signifi-cant risks of material adverse deviation. The seminar faculty also explored ways of dealing with difficult or unusual circumstances, eventually working through several case studies. (The situations and case studies were based on true stories; the names and num-bers were changed to protect the innocent—and the guilty.)

Attendance was limited to approximately 50 each day, which allowed the presentation to be interactive with questions and dis-cussion during each session. Participants pointed to these spirited discussions as an especially valuable part of the seminar, which continues to bring back returning attendees each year. (Of all the actuaries in the United States who signed statements of actuarial opinion in 2007, 25 to 30 percent have attended the seminars.)

Members of the faculty included Mary Miller, vice chairper-son of the NAIC Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force (CASTF) and member of the Academy’s Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting (COPLFR); Richard Marcks, member of the CASTF; Nicole elliott, member of COPLFR and

the Academy’s P/C Risk-Based Capital (RBC) Committee; Chet Szczepanski, member of the Academy’s P/C RBC Committee; Charles Cook, member of the Academy’s Casualty Practice Coun-cil and the Council on Professionalism; Jon Michelson, member and former chairperson of the Casualty Actuarial Society’s Com-mittee on Reserves; and Tom Ghezzi, Robert Wainscott, and me, members of COPLFR.

The Academy’s practice note 2008 Statements of Actuarial Opin-ion on P&C Loss Reserves, produced by COPLFR, was released in late December.

Comments from seminar participants have been overwhelm-ingly positive, and the Academy expects to keep the successful new format. Tentative dates are Dec. 2-3 at a location near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

dale f. ogden, president of dale f. ogden and associates in san pedro, Calif., heads the opinion seminar’s planning group.

Casualty news

AS THE ACADEMY TOOK aim at forming its public policy pri-orities for 2009 (see Page 12),

it also met with state legislators to help spread support for its efforts. In conjunction with the National Confer-ence of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) 2008 annual meeting Nov. 20-23 in Duck Key, Fla., Academy staff participated in a brainstorming session with NCOIL’s Industry education Council, an independent advisory group of insurance professionals, to suggest topics for future NCOIL panel discussions.

In that session, the Academy presented two topics: evalu-ating risk-based regulation in light of the current financial crisis and the impact of health reform options on premium and affordability. Both topics were accepted by the council to include in its proposal to NCOIL.

At the conclusion of its meeting, NCOIL also released a series of charges to take on in 2009, including several related to the Academy’s suggestions. For instance, NCOIL’s Life Insurance and Financial Planning Committee resolved to monitor efforts to create a principle-based approach to life insurance reserves. At the same time, the Health, Long-Term Care and Health Retirement Issues Committee resolved to “monitor, report, and communicate with Congress on federal legislation that would affect health insurance availability and affordability.”

For a complete list of NCOIL charges for 2009, Academy members can read a Dec. 12 Academy Alert.

Academy, legislators discuss Priorities

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the ACAdemy ProVIded dozens of ACtuArIes with critical educational material required for issuing annual statement reserve opinions last November. The Academy’s

ninth annual Life and Health Qualification Seminar attracted 81 life and health actuaries to Arlington, Va., on Nov. 10-13 to learn the basic education material necessary to meet the Qualification Standards required for issuing reserve opinions.

Attendees included a mix of beginning and more experienced actuaries, who continue to attend the 3 1/2-day seminar to refresh themselves on current valuation requirements and earn continuing education credits.

As in past years, case-study sessions provided some of the high-lights of the seminar. The interactive sessions encouraged partici-pation, while illustrating concepts conveyed throughout the four days. The seminar also provided valuation resource materials from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, as well as material from ACTeX Publications, the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association, the Society of Actuaries (SOA), and the Academy.

For 66 of the 81 attendees, the seminar culminated in a half-day exam. Passage of the exam qualifies these attendees to earn the basic education requirement of the Qualification Standards.

The continued success of this seminar was made possible thanks to a dedicated faculty and hardworking task force. All presenters once again offered their presentations twice throughout the four-day schedule in order to keep class sizes at a level that encourages individual participation. Members of the fac-ulty included Donna Claire, chairperson of the Academy’s Life Financial Soundness/Risk Management Committee; Bill Cutlip, a former member of the Actuarial Standards Board; Mary Downs, Academy general counsel and director of professionalism; Sheila Kalkunte, Academy assistant general counsel and liaison to the Council on Professionalism; Darrell Knapp, chairperson of the Academy’s Health Practice Financial Reporting committee; esther Milnes, chairperson of the Life and Health Qualifications Seminar Task Force; Craig Morrow, task force vice chairperson; Sheldon Sum-mers, chairperson of the Academy’s Reinsurance Work Group; Bill Thompson, member of the SOA faculty for the Fellowship Admissions Course and the Associateship Professionalism Course; and D. Joeff Williams, task force member.

The seminar is the culmination of a full year’s planning effort from task force members and Academy staff. Other task force members are Bernard Rabinowitz and F. Kevin Russell. The Academy’s legal assistant Rita Winkel handled the on-site opera-tions. Winkel and Academy counsel Kit Pardee also played a sub-stantial role in seminar planning.

Annual Seminar Proves To Be Valuable Resource

professionalism news

www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

➥ James gutterman, director of pricing for UnitedHealth

group in Hartford, Conn., and Jennifer Vandeleest, an

actuary with Humana Inc. in green Bay, Wis., have joined

the academy’s Uninsured Work group.

➥ susan Mateja, actuarial director, senior products, for

Humana Inc. in Louisville, ky., has joined the academy’s

Medicare Part D rBC Subgroup.

➥ susan pantely, consulting actuary for Milliman Inc. in New

York, and Jill wilson, associate actuary with Blue Cross

Blue Shield of Massachusetts in Boston, have joined the

academy’s Health Care Quality Work group.

➥ Jo Beth stephenson, examining life actuary for the Texas

Department of Insurance in austin, has joined the State

Long-Term Care Principle-Based Work group.

health BrIefs

2008 Year IN revIeW

8

MEETInG POLICYMAKERS ®

From left to right, Cori Uccello, John Schubert, Karen Bender, Cathy Mur-phy-Barron, and Warren Jones, members of the Academy Health Practice Council and its Committee on Federal Health Issues, were among Academy volunteers who trekked to Capitol Hill in March to discuss a wide range of issues related to health care reform. The 16 visitors met with 19 congressional offices and committees, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Department of the Treasury, and the Bipartisan Policy Center. Members of the Academy’s Terrorism Risk Insurance Subcommittee also made the trip to D.C. later that month to meet with the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office. The visits corre-sponded with follow-up analysis the agencies were conducting after the pas-sage of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007.

√ AnnUAL MEETInGJohn Parks became the Academy’s 44th president at the October annual meeting in Bonita Springs, Fla. The meeting featured a keynote speech by Peabody Award-winning Fox Business News financial journalist Stuart Var-ney. Also, Parks, left, presents Immediate Past President Bill Bluhm with a commemorative American flag previously flown over the U.S. Capitol.

MEDIA RELATIOnS †

The Academy’s media relations staff handled 219 media requests throughout 2008, 88 of which developed into interviews by Academy spokespersons. Overall efforts netted more than 1,090 media placements, including place-ments in over two-thirds of the top 100 newspapers by circulation. Highlights included serving as a lead source for a weeklong front-page series in USA Today in January on retirement decisions facing baby boomers. Academy spokespersons also made appearances on radio and television programs like Fox Business News (below), American Public Media’s Marketplace Morn-ing Report, and Wall Street Journal This Morning. Working with leader-

ship and volunteers, the Academy’s public affairs staff placed letters to the editor and op-eds in publications such as the Delaware News Journal, the Baltimore Sun, and Pensions & Investments.

CONTINUeD ON page 9 ➜

PUBLIC InTEREST ADVOCACYπThe Academy issued its first public interest advocacy statement in August. During a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, current Academy President-elect Bruce Schobel and Pension Practice Council Vice President Tom Terry urged policymakers to address Social Security’s long-term actuarial imbalance by increasing the program’s retirement age. The statement generated unprecedented press attention for the Academy as Scho-bel and Terry provided interviews for cable news networks and radio shows throughout the country in the days surrounding the statement’s release. Over-all, the initial rollout netted more than 125 Web placements, more than 75 print placements, and more than 125 radio and television placements.

www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

9

ContingenCies πContingencies made its way into living rooms around the country during the Sept. 21 edition of ABC’s Good Morning America. Continuing an elec-tion-year tradition, Contingencies magazine had invited both presidential campaigns to write articles on health care reform. The articles appeared in the September/October 2008 issue and, soon after, became a significant subject on the campaign trails—including garnering a mention in the vice presidential debate. The press corps following the candidates was quick to report on the details, breaking Academy media exposure records set only a month earlier by the release of the Academy’s Social Security statement.

√ PUBLIC FORUMSThe Academy hosted two major panel discussions in February and Septem-ber that included Academy members and other interested parties in a debate of issues related to public pension plans. Also, in July, Academy member Sam Gutterman, right, participated in a Securities and exchange Commission roundtable discussion of fair value accounting and auditing standards.Academy volunteers also testified before the Internal Revenue Service and the National Conference of Insurance Legislators on issues related to the Pension Protection Act and health care reform.

COnTInUInG EDUCATIOn †

The Academy offered a number of educational webcasts and seminars on life, pension, and professionalism issues for actuaries, regulators, and other policymakers. The Council on Professionalism held webcasts covering the revised Qualification Standards, the Code of Professional Conduct, and the Actuarial Standards Board and actuarial standards of practice, while the Pen-sion Practice Council hosted webcasts focused on the Pension Protection Act. On the life side, much of that education was centered on the principle-based approach to reserves and capital. (See Page 1.) Left, Mike Boerner, managing actuary for the Texas Department of Insurance, gives a presentation during a June introductory PBA seminar in Orlando.

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CAPITOL HILL BRIEFInGS ®

Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello, center, and Health Practice International Task Force Chairperson John Bertko, right, take questions from Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) following a July Capitol Hill briefing to explain actuarial equivalence. The briefing was one of three by the council as part of a broader education effort focused on health care reform. The Pension Practice Council also hosted a Hill briefing on raising Social Security’s retirement age in the weeks following the news conference during which the Academy released its public interest advocacy statement.

www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

heaLthUnInSURED

Throughout 2008, Congress held a number of hearings and debated alternatives for reforming the U.S. health care system, and the issue was at the top of the agenda for the presidential candidates. Follow-ing the elections, members of Congress began developing legisla-tion that would overhaul the nation’s health care system, including Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee, who unveiled his blueprint for universal health care in November. In July, the Academy’s Uninsured Work Group released a new issue brief, Fundamentals of Insurance: Implications for Health Coverage, which discusses a number of considerations related to general benefit-design criteria and minimum benefit structures. The Academy also published issue briefs on improving the quality of health care, ever-increasing health care spending costs, and the private medical insurance market—all of which can affect access and affordability of coverage for the uninsured.

SMALL-BUSInESS HEALTH PLAnS

On April 2, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced S. 2795, the Small-Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Act of 2008, which had bipartisan support in both chambers. The bill would have created a nationwide health insurance pool for small employers and the self-employed. The SHOP Act was similar to H.R. 6210, which was intro-duced on June 9 by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.). Neither bill passed.

GEnETIC TESTInG

On May 21, President Bush signed the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (P.L. 110-233) into law. The act prohibits health insurers and plans in both group and individual markets from dis-criminating on the basis of genetic information, and extends medi-cal privacy and confidentiality rules to the disclosure of genetic information. The law also prohibits employers from hiring, firing, or making promotion decisions based on genetic information. Com-ment letters from the Academy’s Health Practice Council were sent to house and senate leaders in February 2007. On Oct. 10, the Inter-

nal Revenue Service, the employee Benefits Security Administra-tion, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services solicited comments on sections of the act for future rulemaking.

MEnTAL HEALTH PARITY

On Oct. 3, President Bush signed into law the emergency economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343), which includes language requiring private insurers to provide the same benefits for mental health as they do for other medical and surgical conditions. Prior law required that annual and lifetime limits on mental health be greater than or equal to the same limits on medical and surgical ben-efits; however, it did not require that a plan provide mental health benefits. The new legislation exempts employers with fewer than 50 workers. The act’s mental health parity provisions went into effect on Jan. 1. The Academy published an issue brief on mental health parity in September 2007.

MEDICARE

For the third year in a row, the difference between Medicare outlays and dedicated financing sources is projected to exceed 45 percent within the next seven years. As a result, the 2008 Medicare Trustees Report triggered a Medicare excess general revenue funding warn-ing. The Bush administration submitted its legislative proposal to Congress in February in response to the first funding warning trig-gered in 2007. By law, the majority and minority leaders introduced the administration’s proposal in the House and Senate on behalf of the president. But the legislation stalled in committee, and Congress failed to respond to the trigger by the June 30 deadline. However, P.L. 110-275, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, replaced the 10.6 percent physicians’ payment cut that went into effect July 1 with a 0.5 percent payment increase through Dec. 31. For 2009, the payment increase will be 1.1 percent. P.L. 110-275 became law after both chambers overrode the president’s veto on July 15. In March, shortly after the Trustees Report was released, the Acad-emy’s Medicare Steering Committee released its annual issue brief, Medicare’s Financial Condition: Beyond Actuarial Balance.

wIth the new 111th Congress and the obama administration taking control this month, the Update

reflects on the Academy’s legislative activities and accomplishments during the second session of the 110th Congress and the close of the bush administration. much of that activity in 2008 focused on health care reform, natural catastrophe policy, and pension rules—topics the Academy has weighed in on throughout the year. the following recap summarizes the actions of the 110th Congress and offers a peek into the legislative activities that will be important to the actuarial profession in the coming year.

2008 LegISLaTIve WraP-UP

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casuaLtyTERRORISM RISK InSURAnCE

On Dec. 26, 2007, the president signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-160). The act extended the federal reinsurance program created by the Ter-rorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 through Dec. 31, 2014. On Oct. 15, 2007, the Academy’s Terrorism Risk Insurance Subcommittee submitted comments to the Senate leadership on the challenges associated with providing coverage for terrorism-related insurance losses in the absence of a national framework. Last March, members of the subcommittee visited the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is required to submit two reports to Congress on its study of potential constraints on, and means of enhancing, terror-ism insurance availability. In September, the Treasury Department issued proposed rulemaking for the final regulations of the Terror-ism Risk Insurance Program and further interim guidance.

FLOOD/MULTI-PERIL InSURAnCE

On Sept. 30, President Bush signed into law a continuing reso-lution (P.L. 110-329) that included a provision extending the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through March 6, 2009. The program had been set to expire on Sept. 30, the last day of the federal government’s fiscal year. A different proposal, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2008 (H.R. 3121), would have added an optional wind coverage provision and would have forgiven the NFIP’s $17.5 billion debt to the Treasury Department; the bill died last year. The debt was incurred to pay for 2005 claimed losses resulting from Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita. In an April report, the GAO analyzed state and federal programs, examined studies of coastal wind insurance issues, and interviewed federal and state regulatory officials, industry partici-pants, and analysts. The Academy’s Flood Insurance Subcommit-tee is expecting to publish a monograph early in 2009 that will discuss the NFIP.

PensionPEnSIOn PROTECTIOn ACT

On Dec. 23, President Bush signed into law the Worker, Retiree, and employer Recovery Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-458) to make changes to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and incorporate provisions from the Pension Protection Technical Correction Act (S. 1974), which passed the Senate in December 2007 and the House in July of 2008 (H.R. 6382). Among its provisions, the law provides relief for seniors 70 1/2 or older who are required to take minimum distributions from their retirement plans, by placing a one-year moratorium on required minimum distributions from defined contribution plans for 2009; allows single-employer pension plans to use asset smooth-ing in determining the actuarial value of assets; and allows a plan that falls below the set transition target funding percentage for a particular year (e.g., 92 percent in 2008) to be required to fund only

toward the specified funding percentage for that year, instead of toward 100 percent (but only if the plan was eligible for the transi-tion funding target in 2008). The Academy testified to the Internal Revenue Service numerous times on a variety of topics throughout the year to suggest changes to PPA regulations.

risk management anD FinanciaL rePortingInSURAnCE REGULATIOn

On April 16, the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored enterprises Subcommittee of the House Financial Ser-vices Committee held a hearing examining proposals for insurance reform. One proposal, H.R. 5840, was introduced to establish the Office of Insurance Information within the Treasury Department to advise the president, Congress, and the secretary of the treasury on domestic and international policy issues relating to all lines of insurance except health insurance. The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing in July on insurance regulatory reform, for which the Academy’s Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council submitted testimony in a July 11 letter. The letter was also sent to the House.

FInAnCIAL CRISIS

On Oct. 3, President Bush signed into law P.L. 110-343, the financial market bailout bill. The emergency economic Stabilization Act of 2008 gives the Securities and exchange Commission (SeC) the authority to suspend mark-to-market accounting and also requires the SeC to conduct a study on such accounting. After the study is completed, the SeC is required to submit a report to Congress within 90 days. In October, then-Academy President William Bluhm, on behalf of the Academy’s Federal Agenda Task Force, sub-mitted a letter to the House Financial Services Committee regarding the focus of a hearing on the future of financial services industry oversight and regulation.

InTERnATIOnAL ACCOUnTInG STAnDARDS

On June 9, U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) introduced H.R. 6213, the Reinsurance International Solvency Standards evaluation Board Act of 2008, which sought to establish a Reinsurance International Solvency Standards evaluation Board to evaluate the reinsurance supervisory systems of the states and foreign jurisdictions. The board would be required to determine whether these systems provide adequate capital and risk management standards and an acceptable level of prudential supervision over their domiciled reinsurers. The bill was referred to the House Financial Services Committee but saw no further action.

Copies of all legislation can be found through the Library of Con-gress online legislative service at http://thomas.loc.gov.

—Justin eDwarDs

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CounCIl on ProfessIonAlIsm® The council will continue to answer questions related to the revised Qualifi-cation Standards in 2009. It will also sponsor low-cost webcasts throughout the year on professionalism topics to assist actu-aries in meeting continuing education requirements under the Qualification Standards.® The council continues to integrate initiatives from the Academy’s strategic plan, such as participating in Society of Actuaries and Casualty Actuarial Soci-ety professionalism courses and serv-ing as a professionalism resource for all actuarial organizations. The council will also continue to assist the Academy in recruiting members to volunteer to speak on professionalism topics for various actuarial organizations and to streamline the process for all Academy volunteers to sign the revised conflict of interest acknowledgment.® At the request of the Council of

U.S. Presidents, a task force created by the council will take a comprehensive look into various avenues of effectively communicating actuarial uncertainty to principals and the public.

rIsk mAnAgement And fInAnCIAl rePortIng CounCIl® The council and its committees will continue to increase communi-cation with inter-national bodies, such as the Inter-national Associa-tion of Actuaries (IAA), International Association of Insurance Supervi-sors, and International Accounting Standards Board, by commenting on an array of papers. At the forefront of these discussions will be develop-ments in international accounting rules. Council committees expect to respond to projects related to revenue recognition and financial instruments, initiatives for solvency regulation, and an IAA internal models paper.® The council and its commit-

tees will continue coordination with domestic bodies, including the Finan-cial Accounting Standards Board, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and Securities and exchange Commission, by providing comments on documents and holding face-to-face meetings as appropriate.® In light of the economic climate of this past year, the council plans to work on increasing public awareness of actuarial skills, including managing risk and finding long-term solutions to the financial crisis.

CAsuAlty PrACtICe CounCIl® With the National Flood Insurance Pro-gram (NFIP) sched-uled to expire during the first quarter of 2009, the council expects to issue a monograph on the history and future of the NFIP. The council will be closely following the

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Academy Priorities for 2009

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Last year, President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign promise of “Change” catapulted him from his Senate seat to the Oval Office.

For the Academy, however, it will be business as usual in 2009, welcoming many new faces to Washington and continuing to reach out to familiar ones, as the Academy looks forward to working together with all of them to accomplish its goals.

Whether tackling long-standing issues like health care reform, national flood insurance, and Social Security or monitoring emerging ones like international accounting, principle-based reserving, and communication of actuarial uncertainty, the Academy’s volunteer

committees are prepared to represent the profession and the public interest by providing policymakers with their unique expertise.

For select issues, like raising Social Security’s retirement age, an Academy council may advocate for specific change. For others, like bolstering the security of financial institutions in the precarious economic climate, the work of Academy councils will complement each other to reach a broader goal. The following are the top Academy priorities for 2009, broken down by council. Stay tuned for further developments of these and other issues each month in the Update and by frequenting the Academy’s website.

Health news

progress of other natural disaster-related and “all-perils” legislative efforts at both the state and federal levels.® As terrorist events cause home-land security concerns in the U.S. and around the world, the council’s Terrorism Risk Insurance Subcom-mittee will continue to monitor the responses of the insurance industry and the actuarial community to new terrorism risk insurance legislation. The subcommittee looks forward to an ongoing constructive engagement in the public policy process by meeting with congressional and administrative agency staff.® The P/C Risk-Based Capital Com-mittee will work with the National Association of Insurance Commis-sioners’ Property Risk-Based Capital Working Group to examine under-writing risk factors during the upcom-ing year.

heAlth PrACtICe CounCIl® Health care reform is expected to take a promi-nent place on the domestic policy agenda this year. Capitol Hill visits and Hill briefings will play a more important role than ever, as the council strives to provide policymakers with objective informa-tion as they move forward with reform proposals. The council already has sev-eral projects underway to address vari-ous aspects of reform such as access to and affordability of health care for the uninsured, implications of individual mandates, value-based insurance designs, and wellness and chronic-care management.® Medicare also remains a high pri-ority. The Medicare Steering Commit-tee will continue to stress the message to policymakers, the media, and the

public that reform is needed sooner rather than later. The annual issue brief on Medicare’s financial condition will be updated once the 2009 Medicare Trustees Report is released.® The council’s agenda includes con-tinuing to provide research and reports to the National Association of Insur-ance Commissioners on risk-based capital (RBC) and principle-based reserving methodology. Priorities include updating reports on stop-loss and Medicare Part D RBC risk factors, making recommendations on updat-ing the Medicare supplement refund formula, and continuing work on a principle-based spreadsheet model for long-term-care reserves.

lIfe PrACtICe CounCIl® The council will continue to work on develop-ments related to the principle-based approach (PBA) to reserves and risk-based capital. This includes support-ing the adoption of projects such as the proposed new standard valuation law and valuation manual, the stan-dard nonforfeiture law, and C3 Phase III. The council also looks to finalize economic scenario tools for capital and reserving, address implementa-tion issues for an NAIC-adopted actu-arial guideline for applying principle-based reserving methods to establish and evaluate life insurance and annuity reserves (AG VACARVM), and address issues regarding PBA for non-variable annuities.® The council is also preparing to release new and updated practice notes. Some of the projects that are planned include an update to an illus-trations practice note, a practice note on PBA for capital, an updated practice note on variable annuity reserves, and a practice note on market-consistent embedded value.

® The council will continue to engage in discussion on emerging issues with groups such as the National Confer-ence of Insurance Legislators, National Conference of State Legislators, Secu-rities and exchange Commission, and the Treasury Department. These issues include indexed annuities, unisex leg-islation, federal insurance regulation, and life settlements.

PensIon PrACtICe CounCIl® In light of the current economic and financial crisis, retirement security and Social Security

reform are likely to once again be front-page topics. The council will engage policymakers in serious discussions about the design and financing of sustainable retirement security systems for the future. Fol-

lowing up on the Academy’s first-ever public interest advocacy state-ment last year to raise the retirement age for Social Security, the council will monitor issues surrounding Social Security reform.® The council plans to hold conver-sations with Congress, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. regarding changes to the Pension Protection Act. With the Obama administration taking office this month, the coun-cil expects to focus on building new relationships and working diligently to ensure that the actuarial voice is heard on all emerging retirement issues.® The council will also continue to monitor discussions related to deter-mining appropriate disclosures on actuarial reports for public pension plans. This includes making itself available to support the work of the Academy board’s newly established Public Plans Practices Task Force.

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www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

session on the topic held days before the meeting by the Academy’s Asset Subgroup, which submit-ted a report to LHATF. On the issue of reinsurance, another controversial part of VM-20, two members of the task force, California and New york, agreed to look into the relaxation of the current risk-trans-fer rules to potentially allow some types of treaties not currently permitted.

In addition to moving forward on PBR propos-als, LHATF also set aside time to address education on Solvency II and other international initiatives. As work continues on U.S. standards, members of LHATF said that it was important for them to be kept up to speed on international developments, inviting a variety of presentations, including one by Dave Sandberg on behalf of the Academy. Also dur-ing the meeting, Max Rudolph, chairperson of the Academy’s economic Scenario Work Group, gave a report on the group’s scenario generator that will supplement its updated set of interest rate scenarios. This generator is slated to be used to meet modeling requirements for both capital and reserves.

health notes® The Academy’s Long Term Care Principle-Based Work Group presented a progress report to the NAIC’s Accident and Health Working Group. The Academy group has evaluated four stochastic model designs, chosen one, and started building and testing the model. The model is still being perfected with additional func-tionalities continuing to be added. The Accident and Health Working Group asked the Academy group to update it on its progress at least quarterly.

The NAIC’s Capital Adequacy Task Force con-sidered the NAIC Health RBC Working Group’s recommendation of a health trend test. The Health

RBC Working Group chose Health Trend Test 1, which targets companies that had a risk-based capi-tal ratio between 200 percent and 300 percent and had a combined ratio greater than 105 percent. The task force approved the trend test and a request for amendment of the Health RBC model law. If passed by the NAIC, the trend test would take effect in 2009 but would have no operating effect until it is in the model law and is adopted by states. In the meantime, it is an analytical tool that states may choose to use.

Casualty notes® The Academy’s Risk-Based Capital Commit-tee gave the NAIC’s Property Risk-Based Capital Working Group an update on the Academy’s ongo-ing report on RBC underwriting factors.

The Academy’s Workers’ Compensation Sub-committee submitted a letter to the NAIC’s Workers’ Compensation Large Deductible Subgroup offering follow-up comments to a proposal it submitted in August on the reporting of data for large-deductible workers’ compensation insurance policies.

—nataLie Jones, Dianna PeLL, anD Lauren Pachman

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Actuarial Update

the Academy does not audit actuaries for com-

pliance with the Qualification standards. how-

ever, actuaries may face situations in which their

Ce qualifications are audited by third parties,

such as regulators, attorneys in litigation, the

Actuarial board for Counseling and discipline (or

other disciplinary bodies to which the actuary

is subject), or other organizations of which an

actuary is a member that require audits. sec-

tion 6.1 of the Qualification standards sets forth

recommended record keeping of Ce; however,

the method of record keeping is ultimately up to

the individual actuary. section 6.1 recommends,

at a minimum, keeping track of the date of the

Ce, the hours earned, and a brief description of

the subject matter.

section 6.2 describes recommended materials

that an actuary should consider keeping in case

of an audit. for example, certificates of atten-

dance (if available), meeting outlines or handouts,

registration materials, and notes (in the case of

“other activities”). Again, it is up to the actuary to

use his or her judgment in determining what best

exemplifies compliance with the Ce requirements

given the circumstances of the event.

Qualification Standards

What should an actuary maintain as evidence of compliance with the continuing education (CE) requirements of the qualification standards?

14

nAIC, continued from page 1

www.actuary.org actuaria l uPdAte January 2009

Academy board member Larry Bruning,

chief actuary for the Kansas Insurance

Department, was one of two people the

national Association of Insurance Commission-

ers (nAIC) honored with the 2008 Robert Dineen

Award at its winter meeting. Bruning and Ana M.

Smith-Daley, deputy commissioner of the Life

Health Division for the Texas Department of Insur-

ance, were the recipients of the award, which is

presented to an individual to recognize his or her

outstanding achievement as a career regulator.

nAIC President and Kansas Insurance Commis-

sioner Sandy Praeger praised the award winners

as the “best of the best in insurance regulation.”

“Their tireless efforts to improve regulatory

uniformity and cooperation at the national level

through the nAIC—all while maintaining a full

workload at their home state insurance depart-

ments—have not gone unnoticed,” Praeger said.

The Robert Dineen Award is the highest indi-

vidual honor bestowed by the nAIC.