The model statute provides that most commercial lines are subject to an informal filing system for rates and to a use-and-file system for forms.

J. Stephen Zielezienski, assistant general counsel for the American Insurance Association, headquartered in Washington, D.C., hailed the vote, explaining that the short-form model legislation gives the insurance industry a unified "springboard" for further discussion at the state level.

At the same time, Mr. Zielezienski took issue with a provision addressing how a regulator can determine whether a particular insurance market is competitive.

He indicated that this section is troubling to the AIA because it contains "subjective" standards that a regulator could apply.

Nevertheless, Mr. Zielezienski declared that the "beauty" of the model act is its "a la carte menu" structure.

By this he meant that because its various sections are not interdependent, a regulator or state lawmaker can take one or more pieces out of the model act and fit it into his or her state's laws "as deemed appropriate."

In December, when a NAIC working group approved the model act, the group's chairman, Lee Covington, who is Ohio insurance director, noted that each state would have to determine how the short-form model act fits into its particular statutory scheme.