SEC Remarks Suggest UIT Victory

During the SEC meeting last week, it appears that UIT separate accounts will come under the first two certification requirements, Wilkerson says.

That is, he says, the principal executive and financial officers will have to certify that they have reviewed the reports and that based on his or her knowledge, the reports do not contain any untrue statements of material fact or omit to state a material fact.

However, Wilkerson says, his expectation is that UIT separate accounts will not come under the third requirement, which is a certification that the financial statements fairly present in all material respects the financial condition of the issuer.

In addition, he says, he expects that certain other certification requirements in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, involving assurances that the certifying officers are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures and other internal controls, will not apply to UIT separate accounts.

This will not be known for certain, however, until the SEC publishes its final rule.

In addition, the SEC decided to develop a new form designed to better implement the intent of Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

This new form, which will be called Form N-CSR for Certified Shareholder Report, would consist of a copy of any required shareholder report, information regarding the companys disclosure controls and procedures and the certifications required by Section 302.

In other news, the American Association of Health Plans is applauding a decision by the Bush administration to expand the number of health plans available under the Medicare+Choice program.

"The administration is taking a significant step toward creating a 21^st century Medicare program that gives seniors access to affordable benefits and choices that currently are widely available in the private marketplace," says Karen Ignagni, president of the AAHP, based in Washington.

Under a new demonstration project announced last week by the Department of Health and Human Services, some 33 new health plans using the preferred provider organization model will be available to beneficiaries in 23 states.

Previously, PPO style coverage was not available to Medicare beneficiaries, HHS notes, even though it is a popular type of coverage in the private market.

"This program gives seniors new options for their Medicare coverage similar to that available in the private insurance market," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson says.

The administrations goal, he says, is to give seniors additional and better Medicare options.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, September 2, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.