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
Insurance in which most of the premium (generally 80 to 90%) is invested in traditional fixed income securities. The remainder of the premium is invested in call option contracts tied to a ...
Coverage provided for individuals or businesses for loss due to forgery or alteration of such financial instruments as notes, checks, drafts, and promissory notes. ...
Arrangement between the buyer and the seller in which there is a mutual agreement to buy or sell a security at a given price at a stipulated future date. These contracts are effected on a ...
Property coverage for damage or destruction of structures in the course of construction. For example, the standing frame of a house destroyed by fire would be covered. ...
Authority derived from an agent's contract with an insurance company. ...
Organization of over 300 property and casualty insurance companies whose mission is to investigate fraudulent claims and bring to justice those making such claims. ...
Coverage such as HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE POLICY SECTION II On an all risks basis for personal acts and omissions by the insured and residents of the insured's household. Included are sports ...
Common exclusion in life and accidental death insurance (double indemnity) policies, indicating that coverage does not apply unless an insured is a passenger on a regularly scheduled ...
Hospital charges in addition to room and board. Miscellaneous expenses are covered under a basic hospital plan, with the limits of coverage expressed either as a multiple of the daily ...
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