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
Type of policy with premiums that are fully paid up within a stated period. For example, a 20-payment life insurance policy has 20 annual premium payments, with no further premiums to be ...
Defined contribution pension plan in which employer contributions are set under a collective bargaining agreement. It usually covers the employees of a number of firms and is administered ...
Amount of loss that insured pays in a claim; includes the following types: Absolute dollar amount. Amount the insured must pay before the company will pay, up to the limits of the policy. ...
Form of stock ownership that permits the stockholder to select a beneficiary to receive the stock upon the death of the stockholder. The stockholder retains all rights of stock ownership ...
Endorsement to the special multiperil insurance (smp) policy that provides all risks damage coverage for personal property. There are special limitations on amounts of coverage for furs, ...
Decision in the absence of a plaintiff or defendant at the specified court time. ...
Employees participating in and covered under an employee benefit insurance plan. ...
Provision for known claims due but not paid, known claims not yet due, and provision for incurred but not reported (IBNR) claims. The critical problem facing a casualty insurance company is ...
Value of loss resulting from loss of use of property. For example, a fire damages the structure of business premises and the business loses customer income until it can reopen. The loss in ...
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