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
Insurance coverage for accidents and sickness that are not job related. ...
Personal property insurance that provides all-risks coverage for wedding presents, wherever they may be in the world, until they are permanently located. Because the new owners of wedding ...
Strategy that provides that all income from assets in trust be paid at least annually for the life of the surviving spouse. This trust, which prohibits transfer of any assets to anyone ...
Coverage for specialists in various professional fields. Since basic liability policies do not protect against situations arising out of business or professional pursuits, professional ...
Sample of n elements selected from a population of A? elements in such a way that the sample has essentially the same characteristics as the population. The random sample serves as the ...
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, ...
Minimum rate of return, in life insurance, guaranteed to a policyowner in calculating benefits for a life insurance policy. It is also used by an insurance company as the minimum rate of ...
Statement of the financial condition of the insurance company, as well as significant events during the year in which the company has been involved and/or that have affected the company. ...
Right of a beneficiary of a life insurance policy to exchange the future installments due that beneficiary for a lump sum distribution. ...
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