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
In property insurance policy, clause that stipulates that if legislative acts or acts of the insurance commissioner's office expand the coverage of an insurance policy or endorsement forms ...
For loss of an obligee in the event that the principal fails to perform according to standards agreed upon between the obligee and the principal. ...
Common exclusion in life and accidental death insurance (double indemnity) policies, indicating that coverage does not apply unless an insured is a passenger on a regularly scheduled ...
(stop loss) amount over which a health insurance plan pays 100% of the costs in a percentage participation plan. Here, an insured shares costs with the insurer according to some ...
Same as term Accounts Receivable Insurance: coverage when business records are destroyed by an insured peril and the business cannot collect money owed. The policy covers these ...
Bonds sold at a discount from their face value; accumulated interest paid at maturity, as in the case of zero coupon bonds. Interest rate minimum is guaranteed with the prevailing interest ...
Market in which sellers dominate trading and force financial asset prices down. ...
Coverage in the event an insured's automobile is damaged, destroyed, or lost through fire, theft, vandalism, malicious mischief, collision, or windstorm. There are two kinds of property ...
Principle of equity in property, casualty, and health insurance. When two or more policies apply to the loss, each policy pays its part of the loss, unless its terms provide otherwise. For ...
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