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
Consolidation of a non insurance parent company with its wholly owned subsidiary, thereby creating, allowable under current tax law, a consolidated balance sheet. This consolidation of ...
Action by insurance companies and agents to voluntarily refrain from business conduct that is misleading, fraudulent, and in general would have adverse consequences for the purchaser of the ...
Insurance company that specializes in underwriting casualty insurance. ...
Bond that reimburses a business for loss caused by the dishonest act of an employee. Since crime insurance policies exclude coverage of dishonest acts of employees, it is necessary to have ...
In a liability insurance policy, limit above the minimum amount of coverage for which the policy can be written according to company or legal restrictions. ...
Type of organization of property and casualty insurance companies whose objective is to share information on fraudulent claims, handle claims in an expeditious manner, and disseminate ...
in life insurance, receipt by a company of an insurance application accompanied by the first premium. in property and casualty insurance, a company's receipt of an application. ...
Measure of the sensitivity of the insurance company's liability for resultant higher mortality rates than charged for in the premium. ...
Coverage for the insured's personal and real property and the insured's own person. Contrast with third party. ...
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