The FIO is one of the creations of Dodd-Frank that was not needed in the first place and is still not needed. Its involvement in the insurance industry over the past seven years has been confined mainly to attempts to expand its own influence. It has busied itself attempting to devise ways to extend its reach and exceed its limited congressional mandate—behavior typical of many federal agencies that are, in fact, superfluous.

Successful state regulation

Our nation's vibrant insurance industry is the envy of the world. For more than 150 years, the insurance sector has been regulated successfully by the states. During the financial crisis of 2007-09, when banks and investment firms were collapsing, the insurance sector weathered the storm. Insurance companies survived because they are regulated prudently and conservatively by the states.

A 2013 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the state insurance regulatory system worked well to help mitigate the negative effects of the financial crisis on the insurance industry, noting that state insurance regulators took various actions to identify and lower potential risks, and help provide capital relief for insurers.

Over the years, repeated attempts have been made to transfer regulatory authority over the business of insurance from the states to the federal government. These efforts, all of which have failed, have been spearheaded by those few who would stand to gain financially from such a change: a handful of major international financial services firms that regard insurance as merely another global banking product. Fortunately, Congress has always appreciated the fact that all insurance is local, and that banking and insurance are inherently and fundamentally dissimilar.

CHOICE is supposed to rein in an unnecessary federal bureaucracy, not create a new one with even more power over the private sector. If one were to draft a proposal to extend the reach of the federal government over the insurance industry, this provision of the CHOICE Act would fit the bill. Fortunately, there is still time for lawmakers who believe in reducing, rather than greatly increasing, federal regulation to consign both the existing Federal Insurance Office and the prospective Office of Independent Insurance Advocate to the nearest trash can.

Jon Gentile is vice president of government relations for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA), based in Alexandria, Va. Email him at [email protected]. The views expressed here are the author's own.