Blogs

NAIC Releases for Public Comment Draft Accelerated Underwriting Regulatory Guidance

InsureReinsure Blog
February 23, 2023

On Wednesday February 22, 2023, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ‎‎(“NAIC”) Accelerated Underwriting (A) Working Group exposed for a ‎‎45-day comment period draft regulatory guidance while simultaneously exposing for a 30-day ‎comment period a referral to the Market Conduct Examination Guidelines (D) Working Group ‎proposing revisions to the NAIC Market Conduct Handbook.‎ ‎This is a significant shift from the working group’s prior ‎work mostly gathering information to affirmatively flexing supervisory authority over insurance ‎carriers’ existing accelerated underwriting practices.‎

The regulators in attendance stressed the need for the regulatory guidance to address current ‎market activity while asserting authority under existing state law to regulate accelerated ‎underwriting programs in the same way as traditional underwriting programs. This assertion of ‎broad regulatory authority is centered on the anti-discrimination provisions of the Unfair Trade ‎Practices Act (Model# 880).‎ ‎The draft regulatory guidance asserts that the applicable standard ‎for review by state regulators should be whether a life insurance carrier’s accelerated ‎underwriting programs are fair, transparent, and secure.‎

The working group is not scheduled to meet during the Spring ‎National Meeting next month. Thus the working group will most likely reconvene in April to discuss ‎the public comments received on both workstreams. An additional public comment period would ‎then follow meaning final approval could follow at the Summer National Meeting (in August) if ‎not sooner.‎

Locke Lord will continue to monitor for any developments. If you have questions, please contact ‎your Locke Lord relationship partner or the authors.‎

The post NAIC Releases for Public Comment Draft Accelerated Underwriting Regulatory Guidance appeared first on Insurance & Reinsurance.

InsureReinsure
Blog

Visit our Insurance & Reinsurance Blog for the latest news and developments.

Visit the blog
AUTHORS
RELATED SERVICES
RELATED NEWS & EVENTS