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
Provision in ocean marine cargo policies to limit an insurance company's liability for partial losses; the company has liability only for losses that exceed a stipulated percentage of the ...
Entity that offers a managed care plan for workers compensation benefits that joins a provider network with the following parts: case management personnel, medical bill review personnel, ...
Classification at death of all pension plans, profit-sharing plans, individual retirement accounts (IRAS), annuities, and installment payments to the extent to which the deceased was ...
Insurance company's total number of agents. ...
Insurance company program in which the beneficiary of an insurance policy is encouraged to leave the death proceeds in an account on deposit with the insurance company instead of receiving ...
Derivative representing a legal obligation to carry out a transaction that has been prearranged according to a stipulated price and date in the future. There are numerous types of financial ...
Contract between the reinsurer and the ceding company stipulating the manner in which insurance written on various risks is to be shared. ...
Same as term Accidental Death Clause: in a life insurance policy, benefit in addition to the death benefit paid to the beneficiary, should death occur due to an accident. In double ...
Coverage for a lender who has accepted property on the floor of a merchant as security for a loan. If the merchandise is damaged or destroyed, the lender is indemnified. The policy is on an ...
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