Health Practice Council Annual Capitol Hill Visits - Talks Focus on Health Care and Medicare Reform

Sep 27, 2026

Health Practice Council members and volunteers deliver a message of “We’re here to help” to agency and congressional staff during annual Capitol Hill visits on March 12–13. More than 20 volunteers coordinate seven teams to meet representatives from 30 congressional offices and five federal agencies, emphasizing nonpartisan, objective actuarial input. Meetings concentrate on Affordable Care Act implementation, including exchanges, risk-sharing mechanisms, minimum loss ratios, actuarial value calculations, health savings account treatment, essential health benefits, and Medicare’s potential shift toward premium support.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Health Practice Council Capitol Hill Visits

Meetings and key agenda topics

Academy Lifetime Income Initiative

Longevity risk and policy approach

Health Practice Council Annual Capitol Hill Visits Talks Focus on Health Care and medicare reform “We’re here to help” was the message members of the Academy’s Health Practice Council and Committee on Federal Health Issues delivered to agency and congressional staffers during their annual visit to Capitol Hill on March 12 and 13. More than 20 Acad- emy volunteers split into seven teams to meet with representatives from 30 congressional offices and five federal agencies to let them know that the Academy continues to be a resource for nonpartisan information and an objective actuarial perspective on health care issues. members of the Academy’s health practice council and committee on Federal health issues gather on capitol hill before splitting into teams to meet with staffers at congressional offices and federal agencies. Not surprisingly, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) dominated the agenda of most meetings. The Academy volunteers fielded questions about exchange implementation, the ACA risk-sharing mechanisms, and minimum loss ratios. Hill staff also were interested in understanding actuarial value and how it is calculated, as well as how health savings account contributions are accounted for in actuarial value; learning about essential health benefits and how the allowed substitutions within benefit categories would work; and discussing House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) recent budget proposal that would change Medicare into a “premium support” system. First-time participant and Committee on Federal Health Issues member Mark Jamilkowski said he was surprised by the wide diversity of the policymakers’ level of understanding, see hill visits, page 10 academy Broadens Lifetime Income Initiative he AcAdemy is expAnding its lifetime t income initiative, the Public Interest Committee (PIC) announced in a March 6 email to members. Over the next year, the Academy will examine the nature of longevity risk, how people make decisions related to lifetime income, and the role taxes, incentives, mandates, and default options play in those decisions. “Actuaries have an important role to play in encouraging lifetime income solutions,” PIC Chairperson Tom Terry said during the Academy’s March 7 webinar, Lifetime Income—Risks and Solutions.“This topic is particularly important today, which is why the Academy board, PIC, and Life and Pension practice councils have identified lifetime income as a top policy issue.” The PIC exposed a Statement in the Public Interest to membership late last summer that advocated stronger policy support for lifetime income solutions for Americans. The response—111 comments—showed an extraordinary level of expertise in lifetime income issues and interest in the topic. And while the feedback affirmed the Academy’s motivation for addressing this issue, it also made it clear that the questions are varied and complex. As a result, the PIC determined that the actuarial profession’s contribu see lifetime income, page 11 3 4 5 7 Nominations Qualification NaIC Spring NCOIL Spring by Petition Standards meeting meeting petitions for regular professionalism webinar Valuation manual may Academy shares ideas for director on the Academy’s provides a refresher on the be ready for regulators modernizing the insurance Board of directors are U.s. Qualification standards to adopt this summer regulatory system available online m a r 2 0 1 2 T H e N e W S M O N T H L y O F T H e A M e R I C A N A C A d e M y O F A C T u A R I e S Actuar ia l Update c a l e n d a r | marCH
3–6 nAic spring meeting, new orleans 5–6 Actuarial standards Board meeting, Washington
7 lifetime income webinar (Academy)
14 Professionalism webinar: U.s. Qualification standards (Academy, AsPPA, cAs, ccA, soA)
15 Risk classification webinar (Academy, soA)
25–28 enrolled Actuaries meeting, Washington (Academy, ccA)
29 life webinar: Post nAic Update/

FAQs

Capitol Hill visits on March 12–13 focused on what main message and purpose?

Members delivered “We’re here to help” to agency and congressional staff, sharing the Academy’s nonpartisan information and an objective actuarial perspective on health care issues.

Which Affordable Care Act (ACA) topics dominated most meetings?

Discussions centered on exchange implementation, ACA risk-sharing mechanisms, minimum loss ratios, actuarial value and its calculation, and how health savings account contributions affect actuarial value.

What broader policy initiative does the document describe alongside the visits?

The Academy is expanding its lifetime income initiative, examining longevity risk and how taxes, incentives, mandates, and default options influence lifetime income decisions.

Sep 27, 2026

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