NAIC Online Portal Project Could Start In ?05

NAIC Online Portal Project Could Start In ?05

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, June 14, 3:25 p.m. EDT, San Francisco?Development of an Internet portal that provides regulatory information from the various states from a single entry point on the Web could start next year, a regulator said.[@@]

"The National Portal would be one source of insurance data information for consumers, regulators and companies," said North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Jim Long.

Mr. Long chairs the Information Systems Task Force of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which has the task of creating the group's online portal effort.

The portal, if developed, would serve as a helpful entry point to find insurance regulatory data that are now being offered on various different sites by different jurisdictions.

Consumers would be able to access public regulatory information through the portal, and the companies could access the site for all businesses conducted with the states. Additionally, state regulators could use the portal to find a whole spectrum of regulatory information from state insurance departments and the NAIC.

"We've been talking about this for a year, and we hope to start the project in 2005," said Mr. Long, who held a session on this issue at the NAIC summer meeting here.

The access to the portal would basically be free, Mr. Long added. "The site will be developed by NAIC," he said. "It will have a very simple, easy-to-use design. We hope to have many more details on this project soon."