Lawmakers Unveil House OFC Bill

- Free both insurers and producers to elect federal or state regulation, charters and licenses.

- Give states responsibility for regulating state-licensed insurers and producers.

- Allow federally licensed insurance producers to sell health insurance offered by state-regulated health insurers.

- Direct the national insurance commissioner to establish regulations barring unfair trade and claims practices.

- Require a national insurer, as a general rule, to belong to the state guaranty association in each state in which it sells insurance.

- Join a new national guaranty company, the National Insurance Guaranty Corp., to protect consumers in states in which the state guaranty association does not meet the standards established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo. The guaranty company would get the cash needed to make good on the guarantees by imposing assessments on member companies.

The American Council of Life Insurers, Washington, one of 11 major financial services groups supporting the Bean-Royce bill, put out a statement predicting that passage of the bill would modernize the U.S. insurance regulatory system.

"ACLI supports language in the bill assuring that nationally-regulated insurers offer the best consumer protections in the nation," ACLI President Frank Keating says in the statement. "The legislation should take a 'best practices' approach, combining well-tested ideas from around the nation into a single coordinated and efficient system."