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 for golf clubs and golf equipment on an all risks basis subject to exclusions of wear and tear, war, and nuclear disaster. Location of coverage is a clubhouse locker or any other ...
Insurance company's total investments in financial securities. ...
Group of insurers or re insurers involved in joint underwriting. Members typically take predetermined shares of premiums, losses, expenses, and profits. Syndicates, more common in ...
Plan in which funds are currently allocated to purchase retirement benefits. An employee is thus assured of receiving retirement payments, even if the employer is no longer in business at ...
Coverage that goes into effect when an individual's claim reaches a specific threshold selected by the employer who has self-insurance. After this threshold is reached, the policy pays ...
Academic publication of the American risk and insurance association in which articles deal with aspects of risk, insurance, and allied fields of study. ...
Costs incurred by an insurance company other than agent commissions and taxes; that is, mainly the administrative expense of running a company. ...
Terms specifying obligations of an insured to keep a policy in force. For example, an insured must pay the premiums due; in life insurance, if death occurs, the beneficiary or the insured's ...
Individuals or organizations covered by property and liability insurance other than the named insured. For example, under the personal automobile policy (pap), other insureds under Coverage ...
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