NAIFA Also Is Concerned About State Issues

While dangers posed by Congress and federal regulators to life insurance professionals were a chief focus of the NAIFA Career Conference and Convention that concluded in Las Vegas on Tuesday, issues of concern at the state level also were aired.

Developments with respect to investor-owned life insurance, commission disclosure, state estate tax, among other areas, as well as NAIFA’s efforts to roll back regulatory excesses, were covered during a Legislative Forum on Monday presented by NAIFA’s Government Relations Team.

Gary Sanders, NAIFA’s vice president of securities and state government relations, said that investor-owned life insurance, remains a threat to the life insurance industry in the 20 states that have not yet passed anti-IOLI regulation.

He noted that IOLI proponents–life settlement companies, brokers, banks and other institutions that finance the transactions–have “big dollars and resources” to advance their lobbying efforts. In opposition, NAIFA’s state associations are playing a key role in getting anti-IOLI legislation enacted. 

Also a continuing focus of NAIFA at the state level, said Sanders, are estate taxations, given that many states are “hurting for money;’ stopping the misleading use of senior designations and certifications; as well as the development of state health insurance exchanges, market reforms and long-term care insurance rates.

“The states see themselves as laboratories for all kinds of innovations,” said Sanders. “So it’s in our interest to keep a close eye on what they’re up to.” 

Turning to commission disclosures, Roland Panneton, NAIFA’s senior counsel of state government relations, reprised the association’s efforts in 2011 to water down New York State’s proposed commission disclosure regulation. As originally drafted, the rule would have required agents to disclosure their commission on product sales at the client’s request; and to alert the client that this information may be requested.