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
Fund in a segregated account to provide for the return of unearned premiums on policies that are canceled. ...
Evidence of a temporary contract obliging a life or health insurance company to provide coverage as long as a premium accompanies an acceptable application. This gives the company time to ...
Means of setting life insurance reserves based on expected mortality rates as reflected in a mortality table. ...
Systems composed of personal computers linked by a file server. These computers share software as well as databases that enable the risk manager access to information in a quick and ...
Case where an insurance company is placed by the state court under the control of the state insurance department. Claims are paid in the order filed until the insurance company's ability to ...
Transportation firm that must carry any customer's goods if the customer is willing to pay. Common carriers include trucking companies, bus lines, and airlines. ...
Same as term Corridor Deductible: type of major medical deductible amount that acts as a corridor between benefits under a basic health insurance plan and benefits under a major medical ...
Financial holdings that can be converted into cash in a timely manner without the loss of principal, such as U.S. Treasury Bills. Liquidity of assets is one of the most important principles ...
Money paid through state and federal programs to workers who are temporarily unemployed. The program, which was created by the social security act of 1935, is managed by the individual ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.