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
Liability insurance exception for pollution coverage that is not both sudden and accidental from the insured's standpoint. As a result of the damage suits from such incidents as the ...
Coverage when residential property does not qualify according to the minimum requirements of a homeowner's policy, or because of a requirement for the insured to select several different ...
Amount subtracted from an annuity or from mutual fund proceeds payable to an annuity owner or mutual fund owner to reflect expense fees described in the annuity contract or mutual fund ...
Annuity with no fixed schedule for payment of premiums. For example, premiums can be paid for 10 straight months, then not paid for the next 10 months, then paid every other month, or any ...
Insurance company that puts together a consortium of insurance and reinsurance companies to provide an adequate financial base with sufficient underwriting capacity to insure large risks. ...
Company formed and operated without the profit motive as its normal business objective; normally sells and services health insurance policies. ...
In reinsurance contracts, clause that requires the re-insurer to provide coverage if an underlying carrier is unable to fulfill its obligations under the policy ceded to the re-insurer. ...
Account that is similar in form to the health plan flexible spending account (FSA) with contributions to this account used to reimburse employees who are parents for expenses at a ...
Maritime acts resulting in a liability circumstance falling under common law and statutory law. ...
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