Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners voted here today to approve amendments to the Viatical Settlements Model Act.
The Viatical Settlements model revision was the first measure to be adopted under a new NAIC procedures for screening proposed models.
The exact vote tally was not immediately available at press time, but Nevada, New York, Montana, Washington and Virginia abstained from voting for the model, at least in part because of concerns about the new model screening process.
California had also indicated that it would abstain, but it was not among the states listed as abstaining after the vote.
New York noted in an explanation of its decision to abstain that, in addition to having concerns about process, it believes the amended Viatical Settlement model needs stronger privacy protection provisions.
Concerns about process focused on new standards that the NAIC has developed for deciding whether proposed models should go before the plenary, the body that represents all voting members of the NAIC.
The NAIC’s executive committee must decide that a model involves matters that require uniformity, and that many commissioners will commit significant resources to implementing the model in their home states.
Some commissioners asked during discussion what NAIC leaders mean by the new resource commitment requirement.