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
Health insurance plan where a group of physicians and dentists provide medical services to a group of individuals for a predetermined fee. It is a basic type of HEALTH MAINTENANCE ...
Sale of life insurance policies through vending machines. This method of distribution is generally limited to travel accident insurance, supplemental health or disability policies, or life ...
Portion of the federal tax code that determines which organizations are exempt from federal income taxation. These are generally nonprofit corporations, funds, and foundations for ...
Term describing illness, sickness, or disability incurred by the insured such that the insured is restricted to his or her home, a hospital, or a nursing home. Many health insurance ...
Five-year nonrenewable term life insurance policy for veterans who were covered by servicemens group life insurance (SEGLI) while on active duty in the U.S. uniformed forces. At the end of ...
Individual who is legally responsible for taking care of another individual (s) who is deemed to be incapable of managing his/her own affairs. For example, children under the age of ...
Failure to act with the legally required degree of care for others, resulting in harm to them. ...
Method of payment of an insurance premium that allows an insured to regulate the amount and frequency of the premium payments in accordance with cash flow over a stipulated period of time. ...
Allocation of monetary resources to equities. ...
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