SERFF Board of Directors
Fall 2009 Meeting Summaries Index

The SERFF Board met via conference call July 15, Aug. 12 and Sept. 22.

During these meetings, Board activity covered the following:

  • Financial Illustrations/Budget—NAIC staff has provided both historical summaries as well as 2008 and 2009 comparisons of actual to budget experience. Through July, staff was requested to provide additional detail regarding historical depreciation representation, as well as summaries of the expenses that were never charged directly to the SERFF budget over time. Some Board members had expressed interest in an independent audit of SERFF to verify the correct allocation of funds, expenses and resources. The Executive (EX) Committee considered the request in August and decided it was not an appropriate use of NAIC funds. The Board reviewed the proposed 2010 budget in July and August. At the September meeting, the Board voted to accept the 2010 SERFF budget.
  • Strategic Planning/Development—In July, the Board was presented with preliminary analysis on the forms-drive filing project, which was expected to occur as part of the Product Requirements Locator (PRL) redesign. The Board requested analysis on moving forward with the project when the Speed to Market (EX) Task Force suspended work on PRL in June. In August, as requested by the Board, preliminary estimates on the agreed-upon enhancements were added to the Board’s Strategic Plan and considered by the group. In September, reported progress included work with the Product Steering Committee on the forms-driven filing and concurrent rate and form review projects, as well as confirmation that the enhancements requested by IIPRC—statement of intent and mix-and-match indicator—will be included in the SERFF v5.8 release.
  • SERFF Marketing—SERFF usage for July 2009 was down approximately 6% compared to the budget. Due to a good first quarter, usage for the first eight months of 2009 is roughly 4% over the budgeted transactions; however, April through August actual transactions were less than budgeted in each month, averaging 4% under the 2009 budget for the five-month period. Total transactions through August are 349,712. There have been 57 companies licensed since the Summer National Meeting. Ninety-three percent of SERFF’s 2,900 companies use Electronic Funds Transfer.
  • Implementation. Since June, staff worked with the states to implement the Medicare Supplement changes to the Uniform Product Coding Matrix. Those codes were initially to be implemented in January 2010, but the industry expressed concern with this approach at the Summer National Meeting, appealing to the Senior Issues (B) Working Group and B Committee to implement faster to allow companies to get products approved in time to begin marketing efforts in January. To date, 46 states have implemented the new codes in just three months. Most of the remaining states are waiting on legislative approval on Sept. 24.
  • Access to SERFF Filings—In July, the Board received a request from South Dakota to allow access to SERFF filings via the Internet for filings made publicly available by the state. The Board requested Web demonstrations of the existing access functionality within SERFF. In August, the Board received a report on the five demos viewed by approximately 450 attendees and requested an open forum for comments on this issue at the Fall National Meeting. In September, the Board heard from a variety of states, industry, consumer reps and vendors on this issue. The Board will consider the issues brought forth in the forum at their next meeting.
  • Anti-trust Update—In July and August, several Board members asked for an outside legal opinion on the issue of whether the NAIC was in violation of anti-trust laws because some states have mandated the use of SERFF, and the NAIC charges transaction fees for SERFF, thereby requiring the filers to pay SERFF transaction fees. The issue was taken to the Executive (EX) Committee in August, which is satisfied with the NAIC legal opinion that the states are not subject to anti-trust laws and that, since they use SERFF only as a tool to perform their regulatory duties, there is no risk to the NAIC.
  • 2010 SERFF Board Elections—At the Fall National Meeting, a proposed timeline for the 2010 election process was presented to the Board. A nominating committee consisting of the following Board members was formed:

Vice-chair Susan Eckler-Kerns, Prudential
Elaine Leighton, ACLI trade representative
Kathie Stepp, Oklahoma
Tammy Lohmann, Minnesota
 

Minutes are available approximately two weeks after the meeting concludes.

Minutes are available free for meeting attendees using the User ID and Password supplied by the NAIC. Members may access minutes via StateNet. Non-attendees and those requiring minutes from previous meetings, may purchase the Proceedings of the NAIC through the NAIC Store.