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
Settlement of a dispute that arises when two or more insurers cover a single loss, and there is a question concerning the amount each is responsible to pay. The companies are bound by the ...
Coverage that goes into effect when an individual's claim reaches a specific threshold selected by the employer who has self-insurance. After this threshold is reached, the policy pays ...
Representative of an insurance company who sells ordinary and industrial life insurance policies. In an effort to move their field forces into the ordinary life business, many industrial ...
Primarily a British association whose membership includes risk managers and insurance buyers, with the emphasis on risk management. ...
Complete coverage for hospital and physician charges subject to deductibles and coinsurance. This coverage combines basic medical expense policy and major medical policy. ...
Judicial rule of evidence under which no reduction in damages awarded by a court is allowed for bodily injury, sickness, illness, or accident merely because the plaintiff has other ...
Individual or organization that provides the mechanism in which financial assets are accumulated for the purpose of paying accrued pension benefits. ...
Measure of the sensitivity of the insurance company's liability for the resultant higher expense rates than charged for in the premium. ...
HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION that restricts to a relatively small amount the number of medical providers from which an HMO member may seek services. Usually, HMO members may select the ...
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