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
Formula for a given line of insurance used by property and casualty insurance companies to compare losses and loss adjustment expense with premiums. This shows the amount of each premium ...
Legal capability of those involved in mutual assent of making a contract, including an insurance contract. Those who have been deemed to be incompetent to make a valid contract include ...
Health insurance contract sold to an individual to provide coverage for medical expenses. Contrast with group health insurance. ...
Inability of the insured to perform one or more of the important daily duties of that insured's occupation. The income payment to the insured is reduced from that of total disability. ...
Method of accident prevention whose objective is to detect system-component deficiencies that have the potential for causing accidents. ...
Cost of doing business, not including pure expectation of loss. ...
Single insurance policy for only one kind of property at only one location of an insured. For example, property insurance on a rare piano in the insured's home would cover only that piano, ...
Present value of future benefits. This type of reserve would be applicable for single premium life insurance, paid-up insurance, single premium annuity, and a paid-up annuity. ...
Act that provides new funding for the Bank Insurance Fund and enhances the safety and soundness of the financial system. The FDICIA includes the Foreign Bank Supervision Enhancement Act ...
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