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
Benefits provided to and obtained by those insured, while still alive. They include the annuity, cash surrender value, disability income, policy loan, and waiver of premium (WP). ...
Individual who retains title to property that is being transferred on a temporary basis to the care, custody, and/or control of another. ...
Same as term Fixed Dollar Annuity: annuity that guarantees that a specific sum of money will be paid in the future, usually as monthly income, to an annuitant. For example, a $1000-a-month ...
Same as term Chartered Life Underwriter: professional designation conferred by the American College. In addition to professional business experience in insurance planning and related ...
Additional policy dividend paid to a life insurance policyholder when a policy terminates. A mutual insurance company is owned by its policyholders and writes participating policies, which ...
Provision of liability policies and the liability sections of package insurance policies, such as the personal automobile policy (pap), that pay medical expenses without regard to fault. ...
Addition to a property policy providing coverage for a specified amount. This endorsement is typically used for an unusual or valuable piece of property that does not fit standard ...
Organization of property insurance companies whose goal is to prevent and uncover fraudulent automobile fire and theft claims. ...
Removal of money from an individual life insurance policy or an employee benefit plan. A cash withdrawal from a life insurance policy reduces the death benefit by the amount of the ...
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