Three Little Words

Objective

Technical

Expertise

As so many in business today strive for social relevance and for a place in the sun that shines through social media, we must applaud The American Academy of Actuaries, the people who are the brunt of jokes about personality and senses of humor – not true by the way. The AAA has just  reached out to all U.S. House and Senate members of the 117th Congress, key Cabinet and agency stakeholders in the new Biden administration, and all of the nation’s state insurance regulators to offer their expertise in analysis, probability and the other aspects of their work for public policy decision-making.  In case you have not noticed, pension debt, outsized public spending, speculation using market predictors and the like are the stuff of politics – when they might well be the subject, at first, of sane analysis. Academy President Tom Campbell put it this way: “The Academy offers its nonpartisan, objective actuarial expertise to public policymakers to aid in the development of sound public policy affecting federal and state public programs and regulation of insurance and retirement security systems.” The Academy provides actuarial expertise on putblic programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the National Flood Insurance Program; health coverage and long-term care insurance regulation and reform; cyber risk and business interruption coverage; climate risk; life insurance; financial reporting and capital risk; and many other public policy issues. If one adds up the impact financially and in human terms, this is far reaching. Not sure the extent to which the AAA will get listeners since not many politicians really seem to want the truth about the foibles of past decisions and rules or the disaster that inaction augurs. The AAA has ventured into non traditional areas as well to serve the public such as these: The Health Practice Council (HPC) provides objective technical expertise on major health insurance and health care affordability issues, including Medicare. The Pension Practice Council (PPC) provides objective technical expertise to policymakers and regulators on major retirement policy issues, including Social Security, defined benefit pension plans, and retiree health; The Casualty Practice Council (CPC) provides objective technical expertise to policymakers and regulators on major property/casualty issues, including medical professional liability and flood insurance.And there are others, as well. The key lies in the three bold faced words. Meanwhile, the AAA is making insurance business “look good” in its quite, polished manner.

The Academy is a 19,500-member professional association that has served the industry and the public for more than 50 years, setting qualifications, practice, and professionalism standards for actuaries in the United States, among the world’s best.

Speaking of those three little words, we wonder who can apply them for real to these newly famous names and their vaccine products.

Pfizer

Moderna

J&J

Astra Zeneca

Roll up your sleeves and get to work on the three words applied to these vaccine choices. Then roll them up again for the shot that may be the game changer for you. I have had COVID and it is no picnic. May I wish you good science.  SA