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
Situation involving a chance of a loss or no loss, but no chance of gain. For example, either one's home burns or it does not; this risk is insurable. ...
Applications for insurance coverage that have been forwarded to an insurer but not yet processed. ...
Ratio commonly used by the property and casualty insurance industry as a measure of financial strength or to indicate to what degree a particular insurance company is leveraged. A low ratio ...
Coverage of the hull of a ship and its tackle, passenger fittings, equipment, stores, boats, and ordnance. Coverage is provided under the following types of policies: builders risk hull ...
Irrevocable living trust (rights to make any changes are forfeited by the grantor permanently) in which the grantor forfeits control of all assets placed in the trust. However, the grantor ...
Liability insurance coverage for claims arising from acts that occurred before the beginning of the policy period. Policies written on a claims made basis, such as malpractice liability ...
Individual who has a contractual agreement with a policyowner. The agent of record has a legal right to commissions from the insurance policy. ...
Payments made on a monthly basis by users of the medical services of health maintenance organizations (HMOs). After this payment is calculated for a future period of time, usually one year, ...
Expenses and damages incurred as the result of damage to a ship and its cargo and/or of taking direct action to prevent initial or further damage to the ship and its cargo. These expenses ...
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