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
Life insurance: Bonds most state regulations permit life insurance company investments in debentures, mortgage bonds, and blue chip corporate bonds. Stocks(a) preferred stock investment ...
Method of valuing a reserve under which a life insurance policy, from an actual point of view, combines one-year term insurance and a one-year deferred plan. Here the net premium is ...
Inability of the insured to perform one or more of the important daily duties of that insured's occupation. The income payment to the insured is reduced from that of total disability. ...
Life insurance policy provision under which the policyholder may apply the accumulated cash value, in the form of a single premium payment, to pay up the policy or to mature the policy as ...
coverage issued to a creditor on the life of a debtor so that if the debtor becomes disabled, the insurance policy pays the balance of the debt to the creditor. ...
pool that contains various reinsurance companies with each sharing reinsurance contracts on a pro rata basis as they are submitted to the pool. market that operates much like the New York ...
Right that has a limited time in duration for an individual to receive the income generated by assets owned by another individual. ...
Condition for inland marine liability insurance coverage that states a loss or claim must occur in the policy territory. Policy territory for a liability policy includes the U.S., its ...
Adjustment in property insurance to reflect increased construction costs. ...
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