NAIC To Tell Congress: We Do Good Work--Really!

By Jim Connolly

NU Online News Service, Feb. 2, 11:16 a.m. EST?When insurance commissioners gather in Washington tomorrow, they will hear from federal lawmakers and, in return, will make "Hill visits" to sell their message about the strengths of state regulation.

The possibility of legislation federalizing insurance regulation in some form this congressional session is considered real by both state regulators and insurers.

Insurance commissioners will hear from lawmakers including Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio; Sen. Richard Baker, R-La.; Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H.; and, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

And, in return, according to NAIC President and South Carolina Insurance Director Ernst Csiszar, insurance commissioners plan to explain why state regulation is important.

For instance, Mr. Csiszar said that the NAIC's advances on national standards as illustrated by an interstate compact will be explained to federal legislators.

He added that efforts to create national standards will be expanded to actuarial guidelines, and efforts to streamline property-casualty regulation also will be made.

The risk-based approach to solvency also needs to be reworked because currently, only the liability side of the balance sheet is taken into account, according to Mr. Csiszar.

Mr. Csiszar said he senses that federal lawmakers do not favor a dual charter, but rather, might look at a federal tools approach to regulation.

Mr. Csiszar pointed to investigations of the mutual fund industry undertaken by the New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office as an example of the good oversight work that a state regulators do.

Among the concerns about federal regulation that Mr. Csiszar cited were: bureaucracy, the possibility of insurance being turned into a social program and insurers being asked to cover public costs.

Market forces are driving changes in how insurers will be regulated, and state insurance regulators will need to take action within the next 12-24 months, he said.

Toward that end, the NAIC will focus its committee structure and future meetings on speed-to-market and streamlining issues, Mr. Csiszar said. There will be fewer closed sessions at the national meetings and more of an effort to keep them open, he added.

Jim Poolman, NAIC vice president and North Dakota insurance commissioner, emphasized the same focus issues for the NAIC. He said a laser-like approach is needed.

The commissioners' meeting will give the commissioners "a much clearer picture of the congressional lay of the land and what their expectations of us are," Mr. Poolman said.

It also will be an opportunity to display what the organization is working on, he said.

For instance, Mr. Poolman said that the interstate compact, which creates a single point of filing for life insurance products, was well received in the Indiana and Maine legislatures. And, in states such as North Dakota, which are not in session this year, he said he believes the compact will be advanced.

Mr. Poolman said that efforts will be made this year to get all lines of products on the State Electronic Rate and Filing Form system and get more companies to use it.

With a 20-day turnaround, he said, companies should be using it.

And the NAIC is working on making it possible for the SERFF system to communicate with a product filing system that California, Florida and Texas are implementing, he said.

Market conduct and producer licensing also will receive regulators' attention this year, he added. For instance, states will be encouraged to move toward electronic nonresident and resident licenses and to eliminate paper letters of certificate, Mr. Poolman said.

Mr. Connolly is senior editor for NU's Life-Health edition.

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NAIC To Tell Congress: We Do Good Work--Really!

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