Once again, the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) demonstrated that it can do what it pleases, regardless of industry protests. This instance involves the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing (SERFF), used by insurers and state insurance departments for filing policy forms and rates.

Since its inception, SERFF has been a collaborative initiative governed by a board of industry and regulator representatives, operating with a set of agreed-upon bylaws. But that is now history, as the NAIC has unilaterally declared that it has full and total authority over SERFF's operations.

SERFF has been successful in replacing mailed paper documents sent between departments and insurers. In 2001, about 3,700 filings were made through the system; by 2008, there were more than half a million. Today, just about every U.S. jurisdiction uses SERFF and several states mandate its use.

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