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The American Council of Life Insurers has drafted enabling legislation for speed-to-market product filings.
The ACLI released the draft to insurance regulators at a commissioners' annual weekend meeting earlier this month and will discuss it during the spring meeting of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators in Charleston, S.C., this week.
The draft, in its current form, enables a commissioner to use a national system of product regulation to fulfill regulatory responsibilities.
Any product filed with the national system, according to the draft, would meet filing requirements and would not be subject to any "inconsistent or additional" provision of law or regulatory requirement.
A commissioner would reserve the right to remove a product from the national system if protections available under a state's regulatory system were not provided.
Also, under the legislation, a commissioner would retain authority to enforce penalties against insurers violating insurance law.
The approach is quicker than a line-by-line alteration of each state's insurance code, says Patricia Parachini, ACLI senior legislative director.
Companies are interested in seeing a more uniform approach to product filing, she says. In fact, additional product filings are being made ready for the current national pilot, the Coordinated Advertising Rate and Form Review Authority.
