Agents Slam Federal Insurance Regulation
NU Online News Service, Oct. 1, 4 :20 p.m. EDT?The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents said a survey showed that its members strongly support state regulation of insurance and oppose any effort to move to a federal regulatory system.[@@]
Len Brevik, executive vice president and chief executive officer of PIA National, released the findings during an industry panel held in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
"The results of our survey affirm that our members remain firmly supportive of the current system of functional state insurance regulation," said Mr. Brevik. "Participants were vehement in their rejection of a federal insurance regulator. At the same time, a majority agreed that changes are needed to modernize state insurance regulation."
Of the approximate 400 PIA members responding to the e-mail survey, 96 percent said they were satisfied with their own state's regulation and oversight practices; however only 41percent expressed the same satisfaction with regulation and oversight in non-resident states where they transact business.
The survey was conducted Sept. 23 to 29. Percentages were rounded off.
A majority of respondents, 55 percent said changes are needed to modernize state insurance regulation, while 44 percent said they thought everything is fine the way it is.
Eighty-four percent, said that having a federal insurance regulator is a bad idea, and 88 percent expressed support for continuing the current system of functional state-based insurance regulation "with only the most minimal federal oversight."
Regarding the proposed creation of a federal-level regulatory panel to coordinate, but not mandate, greater efficiency in the insurance marketplace as envisioned in draft legislation currently pending in Congress, 39 percent said the panel is a bad idea and 16 percent supported it. A majority, 51 percent, said such a panel is a "Trojan Horse" for federal regulation of insurance.
By a margin of 82 percent to 9 percent, respondents agreed with the statement, "Federal regulation of insurance is only favored by a handful of large carriers and banks as a means of increasing their market share."
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.