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
Maximum amount that an insurance company will pay under a liability insurance policy for bodily injury incurred by any single person as a result of any one accident. ...
Model state law of the NAIC that stipulates that the purchaser (debtor) of a credit life insurance (creditor life insurance) policy must be provided a descriptive policy; the policy must ...
Document setting out the responsibilities of a borrower, such as a corporation issuing bonds, and the powers of a trustee who will be looking after the interests of the bondholders. ...
Percentage of life insurance or other insurance policies remaining in force; percentage of policies that have not lapsed. The higher the percentage, the greater the persistency. Since it is ...
Major credit insurer of the early 20th century that merged into the London Guarantee and Accident Co. in 1931. ...
Method of determining reimbursement from medical insurance according to diagnosis on a prospective basis. It originated with the medicare program. ...
Same as term cash surrender value: money the policyowner is entitled to receive from the insurance company upon surrendering a life insurance policy with cash value. The sum is the cash ...
Federal agency that researches injury and illness arising from workplace hazards and recommends standards for maximum exposures to hazardous substances. ...
Forgery insurance covering securities issues such as stocks and bonds. They protect the issuer of securities against forgery of the securities. ...
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