Even a Virtual Meeting Is Too Hard for State Regulators Right Now: NAIC

A map showing every state has a lot of people with confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has given up on trying to convert its in-person spring meeting into a virtual meeting.

The state insurance regulator group announced Monday that it will suspend holding any more online spring meeting sessions, to give state insurance regulators, and its own staff, more time to focus on the COVID-19 situation.

Resources

A copy of the virtual meeting cancellation notice is available here.
An article about the cancellation of the NAIC's in-person spring meeting is available here.

"This change enables state insurance regulators to better focus on the health and safety of insurance consumers and the impact this pandemic is having on the insurance market," the NAIC said, in a notice posted on its homepage.

The NAIC represents the top insurance regulators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.

It has its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, and large offices in New York City and Washington.

The NAIC is still open for business, the group said in the notice.

In recent months, NAIC teams have been focusing energy on tasks such as improving life insurance and annuity disclosures, on coming up with regulations for automated underwriting systems, and increasing the uniformity of state long-term care insurance rate review processes.

Before the NAIC canceled the virtual meeting, some panels had started to post meeting materials. The NAIC has replaced the preliminary materials postings with notes stating that the meetings have been canceled.

"At this time, we are reviewing our workstreams and prioritizing them to better meet the immediate needs of NAIC members," the NAIC said in the virtual meeting cancellation notice. "As we prioritize the current workstreams, particularly those related to financial solvency and consumer protection, a new highest priority schedule will be forthcoming.

— Read Insurance Companies Are Essential: States, on ThinkAdvisor.

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