Two Bills in Congress about the Federal Office of Insurance: PIA Wants it Gone — Period

There are two bills floating in Congress having to do with the Federal Insurance Office (FIO). The latest is Senate Bill 1544. It wants to protect the ability of the FIO to collect consumer data and how it reports that data.

The bill also preserves the right of states to regulate the insurance industry.

A group of 10 senators are sponsoring Senate Bill 1544. The lead sponsor is Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt. She said the bill will do away with confusing reporting that will end up costing insurers millions.

She said this will “ensure the state-regulated insurance market remains strong and would prevent redundant and unnecessary data reporting that would needlessly cost millions of dollars and put consumers’ sensitive information at risk.”

A bill in the U.S. House authored by Montana Republican Rep. Troy Downing will do away with the FIO completely. PIA National CEO Mike Skiados says the association has been against the FIO since it was created in 2010 and fully supports Downing’s bill.

It’s time for the FIO to go.

“The Federal Insurance Office Elimination Act will protect the successful state insurance regulatory system by repealing the Federal Insurance Office (FIO), an unnecessary federal bureaucracy created in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” Skiados said. “The proper place for the regulation of insurance is at the state level, which has served the insurance industry and consumers well for over a century and is better positioned to protect consumers in the future. PIA thanks Rep. Troy Downing for his leadership in protecting the state insurance regulatory system.”

Downing sat down for an interview with PIA National and explained his reasons for wanting the FIO gone.

“My top priority this Congress with respect to the insurance space is getting my Federal Insurance Office Elimination Act passed by the House of Representatives and enacted into law,” Downing said. “The McCarran Ferguson Act of 1945 made clear that states have sole regulatory authority over the insurance industry. In 2010, Dodd Frank upended this preeminence with the creation of the Federal Insurance Office at the U.S. Treasury. FIO was given ‘the authority to monitor all aspects of the insurance sector,’ clearly violating McCarran-Ferguson.’”

Before being elected to the U.S. House, Downing was Montana’s state auditor.

“I was a tireless advocate for the abolishment of FIO as state auditor. As a member of Congress, I plan on bringing the full weight of my Housing and Insurance Subcommittee appointment on the House Financial Services Committee to bear in the fight to dismantle this vestigial office,” Downing added.

He then outlined ways PIA members can help with the effort to do away with the FIO.

“Our independent agents are on the front lines and bear witness to this change, not members of Congress. PIA’s members are best positioned to educate lawmakers who may not possess a background in insurance. I ask that they impress upon my colleagues the importance of state-centric insurance regulation,” Downing told PIA National. “I am in a position where I can affect change in the legal framework that governs this landscape. To do this in any meaningful or impactful way, it takes the input and context that PIA’s members can provide.”

Source link: PIA National — https://bit.ly/4332pzz

Source link: PIA National — https://bit.ly/4jGPABU

Source link: Insurance Business America — https://bit.ly/42LIh6c