New York State Insurance Fund 7/58-4/66
Mr. Gould began his actuarial career as an actuary trainee. He was assigned to the Pension Valuation unit of the Fund's Actuarial Department. The work of this unit consisted of (1) setting up or reviewing cost estimates on classified death and permanent disability cases, (2) computing reserves on all open (beneficiary receiving payments) pension cases in the Fund's registers and in the registers of the Aggregate Trust Fund (which was operated by the Fund), and (3) computing for the New York Workers Compensation Board the value of their awards, such as interest penalties, advances on and commutation of schedule awards, suspension of payments on account of recoveries from third parties, and present value of awards to be deposited into the Aggregate Trust Fund. Mr. Gould received a permanent appointment as Assistant Actuary after a probationary period of one year. Salary (don't laugh): $4,400 per annum.
In November 1960, Gould was notified that he was the number one of ten successful applicants for the position of computer programmer. However, he was called in by the Principal Actuary (second in command) and told that since he (Gould) had, in the interim, passed two CAS exams they wanted him to turn down the computer job and fill a vacant supervisory position: Assistant Division Head with the functional title of Senior Statistician. Since this position was three civil service grades above Computer Programmer, Gould was induced to comply.
As Senior Statistician, Gould was one of two assistant division heads (two each for the Actuarial Division and for the Statistical Division) who shared supervisory duties over the Statistical Division. Within a few months of his appointment the other AHD died and Gould assumed the additional responsibilities.
Gould supervised the following units:
1. The Experience Rating Unit. The main work of this unit was the preparation of statistical reports for transmittal to NYCIRB. The ramifications of this unit lead into bills and billing procedures, underwriting, payroll auditing, safety service and public relations. Gould had daily contact with insureds and brokers, explaining the mysteries of experience rating.
2. The Special Group Unit. This unit prepared accounting statements for those insureds and groups which were rated under the Fund's special dividend and retrospective rating plans. In this connection Gould supervised the calculation of the cost-plus premium for coverage for civil service employees of the State of New York. This was a considerable task running more than six weeks and involving close supervision of many employees, some of whom were extra help taken on especially for this work and who had to be taught how to operate adding machines, how to read and check ledgers and adding machine tapes, and all the other minor, but important, clerical details of insurance work.
3.The Differential Unit. This unit applied a simplfied version of the experience rating procedure to the recent experience of risks to determine whether a surcharge above the Fund's 25% advance discount should be imposed.
Gould assisted the Principal and the Chief Actuary in the preparation of regular and special reports. Gould prepared the monthly operating results, which were presented to the Commissioners of the Fund by the Chief Actuary. Gould also assisted in the preparation of the annual test of the Fund's retrospective rating plan, in the preparation of the Annual Expense Exhibit and in the calculation of surcharges on Disability Benefit policies.
Gould consistently received merit ratings of Superior for his work.
Gould became an ACAS in November 1961, having completed the four required exams in three years.
From time to time Gould traveled to the Fund's four regional offices (Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo) to estimate reserves on cases held in those offices.
E-mail: dgould2@earthlink.net.