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
Amount charged to an insured that reflects expectation of loss for a covered risk; and insurance company expenses and profit. ...
Plan whereby adjustments are made in the premium, as the premium increases to reflect the non proportionate increases in expenses. Generally, the expenses of acquisition costs, ...
Same as term Conditional Receipt: evidence of a temporary contract obliging a life or health insurance company to provide coverage as long as a premium accompanies an acceptable ...
Flat amount added to the basic premium rate to reflect the cost of issuing a policy, establishing the required records, sending premium notices, and other related expenses. ...
Massachusetts commissioner of insurance responsible for the passage of legislation (1861) that guaranteed policy owners of that state equity in the cash value of their life insurance. The ...
Same as term Morbidity Table: umber of individuals exposed to the risk of illness, sickness, and disease at each age, and the actual number of individuals who incurred an illness, sickness, ...
Method of terminating a split dollar life insurance policy in which the company transfers its interest in the life insurance policy to the insured employee. Through such a transfer, the ...
Inland marine policy that covers truck drivers for loss or damage to merchandise they haul. The Interstate Commerce Commission requires this coverage for trucks engaged in interstate ...
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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