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
Insurance for accountants covering liability lawsuits arising from their professional activities. For example, an investor bases a buying decision on the balance sheet of a company's annual ...
Entitlement of a participant in an employee benefit insurance plan to receive benefits regardless of his or her employment status. ...
Loss that is not a direct result of a peril. For example, damage to property of a business firm would be a direct loss, but the loss of business earnings because of a fire on its premises ...
Insurance facility composed of many different syndicates, each specializing in a particular risk; for example, hull risks. Lloyd's provides coverage for primary jumbo risks as well as ...
Individual or other entity who owns an insurance policy. Synonymous with policyowner. ...
Policy that pays a specified sum not related in any way to the extent of the loss. The term applies to a life insurance policy rather than to a contract of indemnity because the former does ...
U.S. government agency (formerly the Atomic Energy Commission) responsible for regulating the nuclear energy industry. The commission also provides supplemental insurance for nuclear ...
Health insurance coverage offered by some states for medical expenses and loss of income from nonoccupational disability. The merits of federal health insurance have been debated for some ...
Coverage for less than one year. Insurers generally charge higher rates for short-term policies than for longer term insurance, such as an annual policy, because of the need to recoup ...
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