While no one can predict what the future will hold, everyone can prepare for it. America’s life insurance companies and agents have been helping their customers prepare for the future for more than 175 years.
Over the decades, life insurers and agents have adapted to meet changes in consumer expectations as well as new laws and regulations across the nation.
Earlier this week, we met at the ILTCI Conference in San Diego and provided attendees with a federal and state legislative update. Life insurers and agents support opportunities to modernize outdated laws that allow insurers to innovate and provide valuable protection to American families. One such law that we discussed at the conference relates to bans on rebates to prospective customers.
Anti-rebating laws were developed more than 100 years ago amidst concerns over life insurer solvency and discriminatory practices. Since then, other laws and regulations have been developed that provide robust consumer protections regarding solvency and discrimination. The leftover anti-rebate laws are a relic from the previous century.
Life insurance companies and agents strongly believe that states need to modernize their laws to allow wellness benefits and other products & services that improve consumers’ lives without nullifying the original intent of anti-rebating laws to be offered to their prospective customers.
The NAIC and many states agree. In fact, more than 20 have passed new laws that adopt NAIC amendments to the NAIC Model Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Through wars, pandemics and recessions, life insurers and agents have been there for our customers, providing generations of families with peace of mind and financial security. To help us better serve our customers and provide greater uniformity for consumers nationwide, the remaining states with outdated anti-rebating laws should amend them.
Leah Walters is Senior Vice President, State Relations at the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). Walters oversees ACLI’s legislative and regulatory advocacy at all levels of state government, including organizations such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and associations of state legislatures and governors.
Carroll Golden is Executive Director of NAIFA’s Limited & Extended Care Planning Center.
Diane R. Boyle is the senior vice president of government relations for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Her responsibilities include the development and implementation of legislative and regulatory strategy, and daily execution of association activities to provide advocacy services for insurance and financial professionals to support a private, competitive insurance marketplace.
