Senate Panel Mulls Insurance Regulation

“The ACLI is fully committed to the interstate compact concept and is working with state regulators and legislators to pass legislation necessary to have every state become a part of this mechanism,” Johns says.

Iuppa is preparing to pan the optional federal charter proposal, which would give insurers a choice of coming under the jurisdiction of state or federal regulators.

“A bifurcated regulatory regime with redundant and overlapping responsibilities…will result in policyholder confusion, market uncertainty, and other unintended consequences that will harm individuals, families and businesses that rely on insurance for financial protection against the risks of everyday life,” Iuppa says in the advance version of his testimony.

Plunkett is gearing up to criticize both the OFC approach, as outlined in S. 2509, and the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency Act proposal, which has been gestating in draft form in the House Financial Services Committee for several years.

The SMART Act bill would attempt to use “federal tools” to press states to do a better job of coordinating state insurance laws and regulations.

Insurers’ recent decision to support federal regulation “is based solely on the notion that such regulation would be weaker,” Plunkett says in the advance version of his remarks. “Insurers have, on occasion, sought federal regulation when the states increased regulatory control and the federal regulatory attitude was more laissez-faire.”