Regulators and Regulated Converge in Kansas City

A view of Kansas City, Missouri's Union Station (Photo: TS)

State insurance regulators are gathering with insurance company executives in Kansas City, Missouri, this week to sell insurers, and their service providers, to sell insurers on the value of strong, state-based insurance regulation.

The regulators' group, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and another regulatory organization, the National Insurance Producer Registry, have teamed up to organize an Insurance Summit that started Monday and is set to end Friday.

Insurance company representatives often listen to the NAIC's conference call meetings and attend the NAIC's in-person meetings.

The presentations on those calls and at those meetings are aimed mainly at other regulators.

The event in Kansas City is offering a mix of highly technical sessions that are aimed mainly at regulators, such as a session Monday on changes in the way insurers calculate their risk-based capital ratios.

The summit is also offering sessions aimed at a broader range of attendees, such as a session focusing on "health care on blockchain."

The agenda includes many other sessions on regulators' efforts to grapple with insurance industry adoption of new techniques and systems, such as artificial intelligence and "big data."

Organizers are also offering "Exhibitor Theatre" sessions that give regulators and industry attendees a chance to meet with representatives from insurance support services providers, such as Bobbie Shrivastav of Benekiva, who talked about her firm's efforts to improve life insurance claim processing operations.

Federal banking, securities and labor regulators have been playing a more active role in state insurance regulation in recent years. Summit organizers are presenting sessions showcasing state insurance regulators' efforts to make their operations as efficient and responsive as possible.

Presenters at a session this morning talked about how to tailor solvency monitoring to focus on the riskiest areas of an insurer's operations.

A session on the NAIC's State Based Systems unit gave attendees a look at NAIC technologies that support state insurance regulators, insurers, and insurance users.