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
Measurement of the amount of capital (assets minus liabilities) an insurance company has as a basis of support for the degree of risk associated with its company operations and investments. ...
Endorsement to a business property floater policy that covers neon signs for all perils, both while they are being moved and once they are in place. Signs that are attached to a building ...
Model act written and published by the national association of insurance commissioners (naic) whose purpose it is to regulate brokers who control insurance companies. The act permits the ...
Government group that provides reinsurance for private insurers that write riot and civil commotion insurance. Riot losses in major cities in the 1960s caused insurers to stop writing this ...
Important quantitative measure for an insurance company indicating the percentage of each premium dollar that is going to pay for losses. Based on losses incurred, appropriate reserves are ...
Vehicle for the deferring of unneeded current income for a later date, such as retirement, providing the following benefits: There is no tax on earnings of the plan until distributed; ...
Retirement plan in which money is currently allocated to fund an employees' pension. ...
Benefits payable under any insurance policy or annuity contract. ...
Percentage of a life insurance company's policies in force at the beginning of the year that are no longer in force at the end of the year. This ratio is critical because it indicates the ...
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