The superintendent was among a group of regulators opposing relaxation of capital and surplus requirements, when a panel of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners voted 16-1 last month against a proposal advanced by life insurers seeking relief from the standards.

The New York bulletin was praised by The Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Economic Justice.

"The New York Insurance Department and its Commissioner, Eric Dinallo, deserve praise from consumers across the nation for helping them see through a maze of accounting changes and make better decisions on purchase and maintenance of life and annuity policies," said CFA Insurance Director J. Robert Hunter, the CFA insurance director.

The CFA and CEJ noted some states were allowing some insurance companies to alter reporting of capital, assets and reserves "that guarantee that consumers' claims and benefits under the insurance policies will be paid.

Under some of these "permitted practices," insurers can, for example, now count more expected future tax credits ("deferred tax assets") as part of their required capital - even though these deferred tax assets do not represent real money available to pay claims and benefits, said the statement from the two groups.

The organizations said consumers in all states should review not only the Annual Statement filed in their home state, but the Annual Statement from New York as well to compare the 2007 data from last year with the 2008 data as filed in New York.

"In that way, consumers will be able to compare the insurer on an 'apples to apples' basis without the distortion introduced by actions of several states," they said.

"We do note that many insurers do not do business in New York and a consumer might not be able to determine, in that instance, if a permitted practice is adversely impacting their insurer," the CFA and CEJ advised.

This article was updated 4:19 p.m.