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
Coverage issued to a creditor on the lives of debtors for outstanding loans. If a debtor dies before repayment, the policy pays the remainder of the loan to the creditor. The contract ...
Imprecise term still occasionally used by commercial or proprietary insurers to differentiate them from fraternal insurers. "Old line" was apparently meant to make these companies sound ...
Policy clause that excludes coverage for loss of property if the cause of the loss cannot be identified. Mysterious disappearance is an exclusion in a standard inland marine insurance ...
A contract sold by insurance companies that is bought by means of a single lump sum payment usually providing a monthly income payment for the annuitant's life. The amount of the monthly ...
One named under provisions of the employee retirement income security act of 1974 (erisa) for a terminated pension plan with an unfunded liability for its benefits. ...
Elements within a group under study that have the same characteristic (s), have the same expectation of loss, are very much alike with respect to the variable under consideration, and do ...
Fund that concentrates primarily on short-term government securities, certificates of deposit with maturities less than one year, and high-quality interest-bearing corporate debt. The fund ...
Insurance policy that pays a face amount/ lump sum if the insured is diagnosed with a specified critical illness. This sum is paid directly to the insured regardless of any other sources of ...
Risk distribution included by type of coverage, by kind of risk, and by geographical location. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.