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
Affiliate of the national association of life underwriters (NALU) that supports legislators in the interest of the insurance agents. One becomes a member of LUPAC through a monetary ...
Individual receiving medical treatment who is not required to be hospitalized overnight. ...
Association that represents reinsurance companies as well as insurance companies that do not market marine insurance. LIRMA and the institute of London underwriters share the same facility ...
Rules that apply to employee distributions (see rollover and withholding rules for qualified plan distributions: payment paid to employee) and that also apply to distributions to surviving ...
Same as term Blanket Insurance: single policy on the insured's property for (1) two or more different kinds of property in the same location; (2) same kind of property in two or more ...
Act by a company that authorizes an agent to act on its behalf. ...
Four-year institution of higher learning. The degree programs include insurance, risk management, actuarial science, and financial services. ...
One of the major underwriting organizations for insurance company pools insuring commercial aircraft liability exposure. ...
Coverage for damage to a building or its contents due to the weight of these elements. Outdoor property such as patios, swimming pools, and sidewalks are usually excluded. ...
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