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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONSUMER PROTECTION, STRATEGIC HOUSTON (Dec. 3, 2007) — As members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) prepare to elect officers and adopt a budget for the coming year, they are also reflecting on how this year’s accomplishments have strengthened the foundation for the organization’s future. “We now have a strategic plan that will ensure the long-term success of state-based insurance regulation and build on the strength of the NAIC,” said NAIC President and Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell. “With the plan as a clear roadmap, we will be able to devote our full attention and resources to the most important regulatory issues.” A key component of the new strategic plan is a model law development framework that reserves the drafting of model laws for priority issues that require national, uniform action. In addition, the length of each NAIC national meeting was reduced to three days, streamlining the number of sessions from a record 141 one year ago to 80 at this Winter National Meeting. “We undertook some real weighty issues this year that led to improvements we will institutionalize, making our programs — and our association — stronger in the years to come,” said NAIC President-Elect and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. “In particular, I’m especially proud of the work we did to help protect America’s military personnel and their families from predatory life insurance sales.” State insurance regulators — along with state legislatures, the U.S. Congress and the Department of Defense — took swift action to draft and implement the NAIC Military Sales Practices Model Regulation and other protective measures. The NAIC also developed the Military Sales Online Reporting System (MSORS), a Web-based application for reporting disciplinary actions taken against those soliciting life insurance sales on U.S. military installations. “Our primary mission is to protect the interests of insurance consumers,” said Bell, who also serves as vice-chair of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ (IAIS) Executive Committee and was host of the 2007 IAIS Annual Conference. “Our ongoing work with the IAIS, as well as the continued growth of the NAIC’s International Internship Program, allows us to do this not only at home, but abroad as well. Our international work underscores the NAIC’s commitment to helping improve the quality of insurance regulation and consumer protection worldwide.” This commitment includes the support of an award-winning NAIC education program called Insure U, www.InsureUonline.org, which is aimed at helping consumers get smart about insurance using online curriculum, public service announcements and community presentations. Launched in 2006, Insure U was expanded this year to reach Spanish-speaking consumers and small business owners. Additional enhancements are planned in 2008. “We have reached more than 250 million consumers with unbiased insurance information through the Insure U campaign,” said NAIC Executive Vice President and CEO Cathy Weatherford. “At no extra cost to our members, the NAIC provides programs like Insure U — as well as publications, electronic systems and data — that help state insurance regulators achieve their goals in a responsive, efficient and cost-effective manner.” Over the years, this assistance has translated into the NAIC’s funding and support of several member-directed initiatives, including the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing, State Based Systems, Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission and National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR). NIPR, a non-profit affiliate of the NAIC, has seen rapid growth, many product enhancements and several price reductions since its inception. Because producer-licensing uniformity continues to be an important strategic focus for the NAIC, a coalition of insurance regulators and producer trade associations was formed in 2007 to identify key issues and pursue additional reforms in this area. “The success of the NAIC’s many modernization and uniformity initiatives demonstrate that our efforts have been successful and effective,” Praeger said. “I am confident that the state-based system of insurance regulation will continue to protect consumers and create a competitive marketplace for the insurance industry.”
About the NAIC Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a voluntary organization of the chief insurance regulatory officials of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. The NAIC’s overriding objective is to assist state insurance regulators in protecting consumers and helping maintain the financial stability of the insurance industry by offering financial, actuarial, legal, computer, research, market conduct and economic expertise. Formed in 1871, the NAIC is the oldest association of state officials. For more than 135 years, state-based insurance supervision has served the needs of consumers, industry and the business of insurance at-large by ensuring hands-on, frontline protection for consumers, while providing insurers the uniform platforms and coordinated systems they need to compete effectively in an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit NAIC on the Web at www.naic.org/press_home.htm.
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©2007 National Association of Insurance Commissioners. All rights reserved. | ||
