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
Independent, nonprofit, membership hospital plan. Benefits provided include coverage for hospitalization expenses subject to certain restrictions: for example, semiprivate room only. A ...
Illness or sickness such as cancer, poliomyelitis, leukemia, diphtheria, smallpox, scarlet fever, tetanus, spinal meningitis, encephalitis, tularemia, hydrophobia, and sickle cell anemia, ...
Inland marine policy to cover liability for goods that belong to clients while in a mover's possession. ...
Cost of doing business, not including pure expectation of loss. ...
Coverage for ships in port for a lengthy stay and/or those that are under repair. Insures on an all risks basis to include the exposures associated with the ship moving from one dock to ...
Right to sell a given security at a stipulated price until a future expiration date. For example, assume the "None-Do-Well" company's stock has a market value of $20. Investor A sells ...
In property insurance, contract section providing for reimbursement for removal of debris resulting from an insured peril. The amount of reimbursement under the homeowners insurance policy ...
Same as term Cargo Insurance: shipper's policies covering one cargo exposure or all cargo exposures by sea on all risks basis. Exclusions include war, nuclear disaster, wear and tear, ...
Financial holdings that can be converted into cash in a timely manner without the loss of principal, such as U.S. Treasury Bills. Liquidity of assets is one of the most important principles ...
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