26-6-201. Short title; definitions.

(a) This article is known as the Standard Valuation Law.

(b) For the purposes of this article the following definitions shall apply on or after the operative date of the valuation manual. To the extent a definition which follows is inconsistent or different from a definition elsewhere in this code, the definition in this section shall be applicable for the purposes of this article:

(i) "Accident and health insurance" means contracts that incorporate morbidity risk and provide protection against economic loss resulting from accident, sickness or medical conditions and as may be specified in the valuation manual;

(ii) "Appointed actuary" means a qualified actuary who is appointed in accordance with the valuation manual to prepare the actuarial opinion required in W.S. 26-6-208(h);

(iii) "Deposit type contract" means contracts that do not incorporate mortality or morbidity risks and as may be specified in the valuation manual;

(iv) "Insurer" means an entity which:

(A) Has written, issued or reinsured life insurance contracts, accident and health insurance contracts or deposit type contracts in this state and has at least one (1) of the contracts or policies in force or on claim; or

(B) Has written, issued or reinsured life insurance contracts, accident and health insurance contracts or deposit type contracts in any state and is required to hold a certificate of authority to write life insurance, accident and health insurance or deposit type contracts in this state.

(v) "Life insurance" means contracts that incorporate mortality risk, including annuity and pure endowment contracts, and as may be specified in the valuation manual;

(vi) "Policyholder behavior" means any action a policyholder, contract holder or any other person with the right to elect options, such as a certificate holder, may take under a policy or contract subject to this article including lapse, withdrawal, transfer, deposit, premium payment, loan, annuitization or benefit elections prescribed by the policy or contract but excluding events of mortality or morbidity that result in benefits prescribed in their essential aspects by the terms of the policy or contract;

(vii) "Principle based valuation" means a reserve valuation that uses one (1) or more methods or one (1) or more assumptions determined by the insurer and that complies with W.S. 26-6-210 as specified in the valuation manual;

(viii) Except as provided in W.S. 26-6-208(g), "qualified actuary" means an individual who is qualified to sign the applicable statement of actuarial opinion in accordance with the American Academy of Actuaries qualification standards for actuaries signing the statements and who meets the requirements specified in the valuation manual;

(ix) "Tail risk" means a risk that occurs where the frequency of low probability events is higher than expected under a normal probability distribution or where there are observed events of very significant size or magnitude;

(x) "Valuation manual" means the manual of valuation instructions adopted by the NAIC as specified in this article and as subsequently amended.