A New England Republican lawmaker who once served as an insurance regulator says she is against the idea of letting insurers and producers choose between being regulated by state agencies or by a federal agency.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talked about her views on the optional federal charter, or OFC, concept today here during a meeting of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America Inc., Alexandria, Va.
"I believe the present system of state regulation largely works," Collins said. "The answer is not to disrupt that system by concentrating more power in Washington, D.C."
Collins, who for 5 years headed the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, which oversees Maine's Bureau of Insurance, said she, unlike the majority of members in Congress, understands the insurance industry and believes most states perform the task of regulation "quite well."
Creating a federal system would at some point overwhelm the current system of state regulation, making it ineffective and nonexistent, Collins said.
