The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is poised to change its policy on adopting insurance model laws by requiring two-thirds of the commissioners to vote in favor of the measure and commit to push for passage of the model in their states.
The policy change was discussed during a regulatory update of The Life Insurance Conference in Atlanta on Tuesday.
During the session a question was raised about amendments to the Viatical Settlement Model Act that would be adopted during the June NAIC meeting in San Francisco. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, a panelist, said that while the model has support among commissioners, a new policy requiring a two-thirds vote might pose a hurdle for the model's full adoption. He then explained that the new policy, which he said was agreed to by members, is scheduled to be in place by the June meeting.
The new policy, he explained, is part of an initiative by NAIC President Walter Bell, who is also Alabama commissioner, to reduce the likelihood that models adopted by the NAIC are only made law in one or two states.
Under the new policy, if commissioners vote for a model they would have to “make a personal commitment to everything they could do to get it adopted in their states,” Mr. Oxendine explained.
Over the years, some commissioners have voted for models that they did not intend to adopt in their state, and the new policy would change that, he said.
The issue was one of several raised during the meeting that included travel underwriting and the sale of life insurance policies to military personnel, he said. A final regulation for the military sales model should be ready by the San Francisco meeting, he added.
Scott Holeman, a spokesman for the Kansas City, Mo.-based NAIC, confirmed that the changes are under consideration.
Discussions are currently going on and no action has been taken, Mr. Holeman said. He added that if action is taken it would be later in the year around the time of the summer meeting in San Francisco.
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