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
Income payable to a surviving spouse or other beneficiary upon the death of the primary wage earner to bridge the gap until the beneficiary is self-sufficient. For example, income can be ...
Coverage that is purchased to provide protection for a loss that has already occurred. The severity of the loss, however, is uncertain. ...
Same as term Deposit Term Life Insurance: policy in which a premium (the deposit) is paid in the first policy year, in addition to the regular term insurance premiums required. The deposit ...
Under a general liability policy, a claim by an employer arising when an employee terminated by a supervisor without authority or just cause brings suit against the employer. Such a claim ...
Special policy blank issued by an insured for individual shipments or other purposes under an open policy. The open policy allows an insured to buy protection for all marine business for an ...
Unfunded trust that acts as the owner of a life insurance policy. The trust receives a donor's cash payments on a periodic basis, from which the beneficiary of the trust has a specified ...
Same as term Cost-Of-Living Adjustment: automatic adjustment applied to Social Security retirement payments when the consumer price index increases at a rate of at least 3%, the first ...
An amount usually expressed as 50% of the monthly indemnity for the total disability benefit provided by a disability income insurance policy. This amount becomes payable when the insured ...
Option clause in a disability income policy that the insured can exercise that would permit the insured the right to purchase additional limits of coverage regardless of the insured's ...
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