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
Reinsurance broker for a primary company (the re-insured). This broker is paid commissions by the reinsurance company, just as an agent is paid commissions by an insurance company for ...
Section of a life insurance policy setting the procedure for revoking a current beneficiary and designating a successor beneficiary. Insurers require written notice of a beneficiary change, ...
Provides the same coverage as a comprehensive personal liability insurance policy, plus coverage to exposures that are peculiar to farms, such as farm business operations, farm employees ...
Endorsement attached to an insurance policy that eliminates coverage for certain specified perils. ...
Fee paid to an insurance salesperson as a percentage of the premium generated by a sold insurance policy. ...
Total of interest, dividends, and other earnings derived from the insurance company's invested assets minus the expenses associated with these investments. Excluded from this income are ...
Section describing coverages under a policy. Elsewhere in the policy other sections may restrict or exclude coverages. ...
Written contract between an insured and an insurance company stating the obligations and responsibilities of each party. ...
Annuity that guarantees that a specific sum of money will be paid in the future, usually as monthly income, to an annuitant. For example, a $1000-a-month income benefit will be paid as long ...
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