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
Three basic plans are available to cover the costs of health care: commercial health insurance, private noncommercial (blue cross/blue shield), and social insurance (Social Security). ...
Associated insurers that are under common stock ownership or interlocking directorates. Such an arrangement makes it easier to exchange insurance products for sale to the consumer, reduces ...
Mathematical premise stating that the greater the number of exposures, (1) the more accurate the prediction; (2) the less the deviation of the actual losses from the expected losses (X - x ...
Obligation of the insured to report losses from a covered peril to the insurance company or its representative as soon after its occurrence as possible. ...
Coverage that protects a business, up to the policy limits, if actions or non-actions of the insured result in a legally enforceable claim for bodily injury, property damage, or personal ...
Refusal by an insurance company to underwrite or to continue to underwrite questionable risks in a given geographical area. This is an important civil rights issue. ...
Excess coverage over the first layer of medical insurance to provide for catastrophic medical payments. The first layer may be either group or individual medical insurance, or an individual ...
Device that enables the health maintenance organization (HMO) to present a premium quotation to the employer that would encourage the employer to replace the current health carrier. The POS ...
Same as term Associate in Automation Management: professional designation earned after the successful completion of three national examinations given by the insurance institute of America ...
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