A group of House Republicans wants to keep federal financial regulators out of insurers' hair.
The lawmakers introduced H.R. 5535, the Insurance Data Protection Act bill, last week.
The bill would discourage the Federal Insurance Office and some other federal agencies, such as the Office of Financial Research, from getting data directly from insurers.
What It Means
The bill could help hold down the cost of insurance and annuities for your clients by lowering insurers' administrative costs and aggravation levels.
Opponents argue that restrictions on federal regulators' insurance company data calls could add to U.S. financial system risk by reducing federal regulators' ability to get quick answers about insurance industry trends.
The History
Traditionally, Congress has left regulation over the business of insurance to the states.
Over the years, agencies such as the IRS and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have gained the authority to oversee some aspects of insurance companies' activities.
Congress set up the Federal Insurance Office and several other agencies when it adopted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in an effort to help federal regulators understand the insurance industry and prevent a recurrence of the kinds of problems that led to the 2007-2009 Great Recession.
