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
Gain that occurs when the move in the underlying asset in one direction is similar to the loss when the underlying asset moves in the opposite direction. For example, if a stock goes up by ...
Instrument that guarantees compliance with various city, county, and state laws that govern the issuance of a particular license to conduct business. ...
Difference between the actuarial equivalent (rate) and the often lower rate actually charged to insure a risk. ...
recipient. insurance company that receives a premium payment from a payer. insured or beneficiary who receives a loss or benefit payment from an insurer. ...
Maximum limit of liability of an insurance company for a particular claim or kind of loss that is applicable in general to all such claims or losses. This maximum limit of liability is ...
In insurance, debit agents list of total premiums to be collected. This also applies to the geographical area in which an agent collects the premiums. ...
Single insurance policy for only one kind of property at only one location of an insured. For example, property insurance on a rare piano in the insured's home would cover only that piano, ...
Policy permitting an insured to choose desired coverages. These policies are important for items with relatively low limits of coverage under standard property insurance forms. For example, ...
Excess of loss reinsurance written on a facultative reinsurance basis to provide cover for a particular PRIMARY INSURANCE policy. ...
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