The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will work next year on a proposal for standardizing insurance regulation that it can bring before Congress, according to the new NAIC president.

Sandy Praeger, Kansas Insurance Commissioner and the NAIC head for 2008, emphasized that the effort will enhance state regulation and not abrogate state authority.

She explained that the NAIC has worked with federal officials on proposals in the past for issues such as supplementary Medicare insurance. NAIC and F.B.I., she said, coordinated on a plan for producer licensing records.

A number of approaches will be reviewed and considered during the commissioners annual weekend gathering in February to discuss standardized regulation, she said.

One proposal was detailed today by Texas Insurance Commissioner Michael Geeslin during the government relations leadership council session.

Mr. Geeslin discussed the idea of developing a model called "the Federal Standardization Act of 2008" in the coming year as a way to homogenize insurance regulation. Currently, he explained insurance is being looked at by different federal authorities and more standardization is needed.

A single convention or organization could be developed to bring items to be standardized that could range from policy to products to licensing issues, he said.

That body could be the NAIC or another body, Mr. Geeslin added. It could conceivably incorporate the Compact Commission which is currently approving product filings for life insurance products, he added.

The Compact Commission was an effort advanced by the NAIC and became fully operational a year ago. Mr. Geeslin said details still would need to be worked out but development could begin by the back end of 2008.

What this would offer, Mr. Geeslin continued, is putting efforts on a "clock" or timetable and "giving ownership to the task of standardization."

The proposal would include lines of business where there would be a fair certainty of success in standardization, he said.

Special Reports /

2008 A Year For Standardization, Says NAIC President

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