South Carolina Becomes the 32nd State to Join Interstate Compact

South Carolina became the 32nd state to join the interstate compact on June 11, 2008. House Bill 3023 was signed into law by Governor Mark Sanford, continuing the steady march of states that have agreed to the creation of a single point-of-filing for insurance products in the past four years.

Background: The interstate compact aims to improve the speed-to-market conditions for life insurance, annuity, disability income and long-term care products through the use of one regulatory body to review new insurance products. The ability to obtain approval from a single source for the sale of insurance products in multiple states gives insurers a more efficient and uniform product approval process than the multistate product review system. Faster product review benefits consumers and NAIFA members by making new protection products available sooner.

“NAIFA members, consumers and insurers will all benefit from the interstate compact’s acceptance by more states because that means new insurance products satisfying uniform standards will be available to the public without delay,” said NAIFA President Jeffrey J. Taggart, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF. NAIFA CEO John J. Healy, CAE, added, “NAIFA encourages its members to support adoption of the compact in every state so that greater regulatory efficiency can bring the American public the insurance coverage it needs as soon as possible.”

NAIFA’s Position: NAIFA has been a strong supporter of the interstate compact since helping the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) draft the model compact law in 2002. This support continues today as NAIFA, and its health insurance conference AHIA, are the only groups representing the agent community on the compact commission’s industry advisory committee. NAIFA state associations across the country have also been critical proponents of compact legislation as it’s introduced in state houses across the country. The compact became operational in 2006 and began accepting its first product filings in 2007. Several other states are also considering compact legislation this year.

For more information on this and other insurance regulatory reform proposals, please visit our new IRR website at www.naifa.org/advocacy/irr

NAIFA Staff Contact: Michael Gerber, Vice President & General Counsel, at 703-770-8190.