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
Provision in an umbrella liability insurance policy under which the policy will pay those losses that come within the retention limits of the primary policy, but the primary policy cannot ...
Automatic reestablishment of an insurance policy's in-force status, usually achieved through payment of the premium due. ...
Beneficiary's choice, in a life insurance policy or annuity, for receiving income payments for a given period of time. The number of payments are fixed by the payee; the benefit amount is ...
New rule entitled "Employers Accounting for Postemployment Benefits," which requires advanced recognition of nonretirement benefits, health insurance continuation, and severance pay. ...
Term for operating an automobile while under the influence of alcoholic beverages so as to be unable to drive safely. An insurance company can suspend auto coverage under a personal ...
Clause in an insurance policy that provides for the payment of a monetary sum to the individual (s) who incurred the loss. ...
Location that is different from an insured's home or place of business. Under the standard homeowners insurance policy, the property of the insured is covered off premises; for example, if ...
Same as term Coinsurance: in property insurance, when the insurance policy contains this clause, coinsurance defines the amount of each loss that the company pays according to the following ...
Government agency, under the McCarran-Ferguson act (public law 15), that has no authority over insurance matters to the extent the states regulate insurance to the satisfaction of Congress. ...
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