NAIC To Convene More Meetings In D.C.

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, June 23, 4:20 p.m. EDT, New York? Insurance regulators who are anxious to increase their interaction with Congress have decided to meet yearly in Washington, D.C., and some favor even more sessions at the capital.

Beginning in 2006, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has agreed at least one of its quarterly meetings will be regularly held in Washington, D.C., and some commissioners are arguing that there are good reasons to hold even two quarterly meetings there every year.

"The NAIC Western Zone had voted to recommend that two of the four NAIC meetings, in the spring and the fall, be held in Washington, D.C.," said Mike Kreidler, insurance commissioner for the State of Washington and chair of the Western Zone, who is attending the NAIC summer meeting in New York.

He said there is now an agreement to hold at least one meeting a year in D.C. Mr. Kreidler noted that in the past one of the NAIC quarterly meetings was always held in Washington. "But that practice had been abandoned some years back. So essentially, the NAIC is reinstituting it now," Commissioner Kreidler said.

"But I think the NAIC should hold two meetings in D.C. annually," he added. "I am not going to give up on the idea that we should have two quarterly meetings there, and I will continue to tell that to my colleagues to see if we can go from one to two."

One of the reasons for this is that these are tough budgetary times for states, and "nobody questions you if you hold the NAIC meeting in Washington, D.C. But if you go to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., or San Diego or New Orleans, it kind of looks like ?Is this something that's really serious?,'" Commissioner Kreidler told National Underwriter. "So if NAIC meetings are held in D.C., it's easier to bring more staff to participate, which is incredibly important."

Commissioner Kreidler said another reason is that meetings in Washington, D.C. would offer opportunities for closer interactions with Congress and federal agencies. "It would be easier for them to come to our meetings to participate and for us to have interactions with them. It also enables us to bring along more staff as we meet with federal agencies, legislators and their staff, so that they know the point of contact for state insurance staff for different issues," he noted.

Getting more staff members involved with interactions in Washington, D.C. is crucial for the sake of continuity because of the very high turnover rate among the commissioners, he said. "I have been here two and a half years, and I am senior to the majority of members," he said.

Commissioner Kreidler said he has heard from NAIC staff that the group needs "to build this working relationship so that states can do a more effective job in making sure that members of Congress and federal agencies know who to contact to get answers, to help solve problems and to make sure we are doing the best job we can to regulate insurance."

Lawrence Mirel, Washington, D.C. insurance commissioner, told National Underwriter that he would love to have the group come to the nation's capital more often.

"We would love to have it, although it might be a problem, of course, for those who live in Hawaii or Alaska or California. But I understand why they want to do it. The more they want to come, the happier we are," Commissioner Mirel said. "I think the reason for this is a real one, that is to let our Congressional representatives know more about what we are doing."

He also observed that the NAIC still needs to do a lot more with federal legislators. Insurance is state-regulated, he noted, but there is always the question of whether Congress is going to interfere with that.

"So state regulators better let Congress know that we are on the job and that we are doing what we are supposed to do," Commissioner Mirel said.

The proposal for an optional federal charter system, Mr. Mirel said, will only come about if state regulators can't demonstrate effectively that they are up to the task. "There is a long tradition in this country of state regulation of insurance, and if we can show that it's working well, I think there would be a very little appetite in Congress for changing it," he said.

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NAIC To Convene More Meetings In D.C.

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