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
Financial instruments whose principal and income are established in advance according to contractual terms set forth in the financial instrument's document. Examples of such investments ...
Percentage of total assets set aside by an insurance company to provide for unexpected losses. In general, a minimum of a 5% surplus ratio (5 cents in reserve for each $1 of assets) is ...
Professional designation conferred by the International Board of Standards and Practices for Certified Financial Planners. In addition to professional business experience in financial ...
Monthly income payment from a disability income insurance policy made to the insured wage earner when income has been interrupted or terminated because of illness, sickness, or accident ...
Plan whereby adjustments are made in the premium, as the premium increases to reflect the non proportionate increases in expenses. Generally, the expenses of acquisition costs, ...
Business income coverage form that covers an insured business in the event that a manufacturer's operations are interrupted or suspended, thereby resulting in a monetary loss because a ...
Since a mobile home can literally be both mobile and a house, it obviously requires its own kind of insurance. A mobile home insurance policy is sort of a hybrid between auto insurance and ...
in life insurance, receipt by a company of an insurance application accompanied by the first premium. in property and casualty insurance, a company's receipt of an application. ...
Arrangement under which employees may choose their own employee benefit structure. For example, one employee may wish to emphasize health care and thus would select a more comprehensive ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.