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
Request for life insurance coverage by an individual, not through an agent or broker. It is given extra scrutiny by an insurance company because of the possibility of self-selection, which ...
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, ...
Endorsement to personal automobile policy (PAP) that covers an insured involved in a collision with a driver who does not have liability insurance. ...
Coverage on an all risks basis, subject to listed exclusions, for personal property of the insured dealer that is used in normal business activities. Goods that have been sold on an ...
Coverage through an endorsement to the personal automobile policy (pap) to extend its protection against accidents within a 25 mile radius of the U.S. border. This coverage is excess over ...
Billing by an administering agency for expenses associated with administering a group employee benefit plan. ...
Insurance for accountants covering liability lawsuits arising from their professional activities. For example, an investor bases a buying decision on the balance sheet of a company's annual ...
Sum it takes to replace an insured's damaged or destroyed property with one of like kind and quality, equivalent to the actual cash value, minus physical depreciation (fair wear and tear) ...
Provision in a life insurance policy that permits the policy owner to name anyone as primary and secondary beneficiaries. The policy owner may change the beneficiaries at any time by simply ...
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