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
Payment of that portion of the annual premium by the employee necessary to cover the PS-58 cost for that given year. Any unpaid premium balance for that particular year is paid by the ...
Measurement of how people feel about prevailing economic conditions, employment outlook, and personal finances. This index is based on statistics gathered from questionnaires mailed by the ...
Buy-sell agreements found in partnerships, sole proprietorships, and close corporations. Either the business entity or the surviving members of the business agree to buy out the interest of ...
Circumstance in which an insurance company can issue life or health insurance to an applicant based on standards set by the company. ...
Means of supplementing an executive's retirement benefits by deferring a portion of his or her current earnings. Deferring income in this manner encourages the loyalty of executives. To ...
Annuity that continues income payments as long as the annuitant lives, ceasing upon the individual's death. ...
Value of a foregone opportunity, one rejected in favor of a presumably better opportunity. For example, investment of a sum into a mutual fund instead of a variable annuity with a ...
Coverage for small groups that cannot meet the underwriting standards of true group insurance. Even though the franchise insurance covers an entire group, individual policies are written on ...
Entitlement of a pension plan participant (employee) to receive full benefits at normal retirement age, or a reduced benefit upon early retirement, whether or not the participant still ...
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