NCOIL Rallies Opposition To Fed Office

State lawmakers against the creation of a federal Office of Insurance Information are seeking support from their compatriots in the state executive branch, asking governors and state attorneys general to voice their opposition as well.

“NCOIL does not believe that you or other involved state officials would support a bill that would likely override state insurance laws and their related consumer protections while impacting the healthy insurance marketplace that states have built, as well as potentially lead down the dangerous path to the creation of a federal insurance regulator,” NCOIL officers wrote in a letter to the governors and attorneys general of all 50 states.

The letter was written in response to the Insurance Information Act–HR 5840–which was introduced by Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., who chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

The legislation would establish an Insurance Information Office within the Treasury Department to provide expertise to the federal government, as well as work with the U.S. Trade Representatives in dealing with other countries on insurance issues.

NCOIL officials have expressed strong opposition to the bill, warning that it allows for the preemption of state insurance law and could serve as a precursor to the creation of an optional federal charter for insurance, and questioning the prominent role created for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as an advisory body to the new federal office.

“As state officials with boots on the ground, we know and serve the needs of our constituents better than any bureaucratic federal office,” the NCOIL officers said in their letter, adding that state lawmakers, governors and attorneys general “work side-by-side to improve insurance regulation in our states, and to ensure that companies and consumers benefit from the competitive marketplace we have fostered.”

NCOIL's letter to the governors and attorneys general comes on the heels of an effort to reach out to individual NAIC members. Just days after a congressional hearing, NCOIL sent letters to the state insurance commissioners, asking them if they agreed with the NAIC's “conditional support” for the bill.

“NCOIL would like to confirm your continuing support of successful state insurance regulation and your opposition to H.R. 5840 in its current form,” the NCOIL leadership said in the letter.

“The position taken by the NAIC–on behalf of all state insurance regulators–and presented to Congress at a June 10 hearing is a dangerous policy to pursue,” NCOIL warned.