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
Act that mandates that employers who have at least 26 employees must provide a terminating employee and family members, if residents of employee's household, with health insurance coverage ...
Federal statute that permits the self-employed a 100% tax deduction for the family health care expenses to include health insurance premiums, disability INCOME insurance premiums, and ...
Nonforfeiture option that uses the cash value of an ordinary life policy as a single premium to purchase term life insurance in the amount of the original policy. The length of the term ...
Membership organization primarily of medium and small life and health insurance companies. It represents the views and interests of smaller companies in various political forums. ...
Act that requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to have a formal program to educate the public about the importance of saving for retirement. The DOL is also required to educate the public ...
Break in commercial activities due to the occurrence of a peril. Coverage against business interruption by various named perils can be obtained through insurance. ...
Technique designed to permit the exchange of a life insurance policy that has an outstanding loan charged against it for another life insurance policy on a tax-free basis. The procedure is ...
Group of plans (to include section 401(k) plans and section 403(b) plans) that permit in-service withdrawals to fund a college education if a hardship exists. ...
Coverage for malpractice suits resulting from professional acts and/or omissions of morticians. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.