State Supervision And Regulation
Primary responsibility for overseeing the insurance industry that has rested with individual states since 1945, after Congress passed the MCCARRAN-FERGUSON ACT (PUBLIC LAW 15). In addition to supervision and regulation, states receive taxes and fees paid by the industry that amount to several billion dollars a year. State insurance laws are administered by state insurance departments that are responsible for making certain that (1) rates are adequate, not unfairly discriminatory, and not unreasonably high, and (2) insurance companies in the state are financially sound and able to pay future claims. To this end, states set requirements for company reserves, require annual financial statements, and examine company books. Each state has an insurance commissioner or superintendent who is either elected or appointed by the governor, with responsibility for investigating company practices, approving rates and policy forms, and ordering liquidation of insolvent insurers. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS (NAIC) has drafted model legislation and worked for policy uniformity, but regulations vary widely from state to state.
Whether insurers should be regulated by the states or the federal government remains at issue, but so far insurers and the NAIC lobbying have been effective in resisting federal regulation. Nevertheless, the federal government has a profound effect on the insurance industry through its taxes and a variety of regulations.
Popular Insurance Terms
Coverage for a mortgagee where real or personal property, used as security for a loan, is damaged or destroyed. For example, a bank (mortgagee) lends money to an individual (mortgagor) who ...
Method of calculating the primary insurance amount (PIA) for Social Security benefits. Employees' covered monthly earnings are adjusted to reflect changes in the national average annual ...
Trade association located in New York City, consisting of approximately 200 captive insurance companies. The objective of the association is to further the common interests of its members. ...
Insured losses that have occurred but have not been reported to a primary insurance company. These types of claims have a tremendous effect on a reinsurance treaty, which may be showing a ...
Monetary guarantee that an individual released from jail will be present in court at the appointed time. If the individual is not present in court at that time, the monetary value of the ...
Elements common to all life insurance policies. While state insurance laws do not prescribe the exact words that must be in a life insurance policy, certain standard provisions must be ...
Minimum degree of injury or loss for which an injured party can sue, even though covered by no fault automobile insurance. Traditionally, an accident victim had to prove the other driver ...
Life insurance and long-term disability income insurance on major employees, with benefits payable to the business. Key person insurance has these advantages: enhances the ability of the ...
Health plan that pays a flat fee for each patient it covers. ...
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