Five major insurance trade groups are calling for insurance regulators to drop further work on model fingerprint legislation that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has had in the works for over three years.
The organizations, in a Feb. 2 letter, have urged regulators to "forgo any further discussion or consideration of the proposal."
Their advice was addressed to Alessandro Iuppa, NAIC president and Maine superintendent, and Susan Voss, NAIC Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs "D" Committee chair and Iowa insurance commissioner.
The letter is signed by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Alexandria, Va.; the Life Insurers Council, Atlanta; the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, Indianapolis, Ind.; the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices, Kansas City, Mo.; and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, Des Plaines, Ill.
The letter said the "Authorization for Criminal History Record Check Model Act" is "broad, misguided and unnecessary," and "its adoption would undermine efforts to create greater reciprocity and uniformity in insurance regulation."
It noted that some have suggested "the languishing proposal is unlikely to be revived, and we hope that is the course followed by the NAIC."
On a recent NAIC teleconference of regulators there was silence when a request was made for a motion to advance the model to the NAIC Executive Committee, a precursor to final NAIC approval.
"The draft has deviated significantly from the original intent of the model," said Wes Bissett, a senior vice president with the IIABA.
He questioned whether the model is actually needed, noting a point in the letter that a December 2002 NAIC memo outlined steps that a legislature must take in order to access the FBI's criminal history records. Consequently, "we see no need or benefit in continuing work on the current draft," the letter stated.
And, according to Mr. Bissett, there are other important priorities that the "D" Committee should be focusing on, including a reform and streamlining of the producer licensing process.
In a recent interview with National Underwriter, Ms. Voss said the model could be discussed among commissioners during their annual gathering Feb. 5-8. She expressed optimism there could still be a fingerprint model that is adopted, but said it would require a "fresh start."
Ms. Voss noted that the committee would need direction from commissioners so it could decide how much time, if any, is devoted to the model and how much time should be devoted to other issues such as producer licensing.
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