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
Average earned monthly income (AEMI) for the tax year in which the insured wage earner has income interrupted or terminated because of illness, sickness, or accident. This AEMI is important ...
Coverage for personal property of a manufacturer on an all risks basis when that property is off the manufacturer's premises. ...
Insurance policy that pays a face amount/ lump sum if the insured is diagnosed with a specified critical illness. This sum is paid directly to the insured regardless of any other sources of ...
Expectation of illness or injury. The probability of such occurrence is shown by a morbidity table, which is important in determining the premiums for health insurance policies. ...
Actual or attempted malicious and deliberate burning of a physical asset owned by another party. Coverage against arson is provided under property insurance, but only if the insured has not ...
Coverage outside an insured's home for personal items usually carried or worn while traveling. Protection is for personal property (apparel and jewelry), not for real property or property ...
Rule that prohibits the introduction into a court of law of any oral or written agreement that contradicts the final written agreement. For example, an insurance contract containing clauses ...
Resident patient of a medical installation. Previously, health insurance benefits were limited to in-patient care. Today health insurance policies provide an extensive list of out-patient ...
Retirement center with a focus on group living arrangements for senior citizens. The center has separate apartments for each resident as well as an on-site nursing facility. Generally, ...
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