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
Employer, association, labor union, or other group ...
Average interest earned by an insurer on its investments after investment expense, but before federal income tax. ...
Cash value of life insurance that accumulates according to a table in a policy. It reflects premiums in the early years that exceed the pure cost of protection during that period. If a ...
Determination that investments by parents in their children's education through the purchase of Series EE Savings Bonds, which generate interest income, are tax-exempt if the proceeds are ...
Model state law providing guidelines by regulators for valuation of securities on the books of insurance companies. The act has two sections: one for valuation of fixed rate bonds and debt ...
Pre-determined dollar amount up to which an insurance policy will cover an insured each year, regardless of the number of claims submitted or defense costs associated with these claims. For ...
Person who is expressly or by implication asked to visit property in the possession, care, or control of another person. The inviter has the obligation to render his or her property safe ...
Special policy blank issued by an insured for individual shipments or other purposes under an open policy. The open policy allows an insured to buy protection for all marine business for an ...
Policy designed to act as a supplement to Medicare. The supplementation is in the form of additional benefits to that provided by Medicare. The additional benefits are in the form of ...
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