Federal charter bill introduced in Congress

On April 2, 2009, H.R. 1800, the National Insurance Consumer Protection Act (NICPA), was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Reps. Melissa Bean (D-IL) and Edward Royce (R-CA). In line with prior legislation seeking to introduce an Optional Federal Charter (OFC), NICPA would pre-empt state insurance laws and establish a federal system of regulation and supervision for national insurers and insurance producers.

As with the dual system of regulation utilized for the banking sector, insurers and producers are free under NICPA to elect federal or state regulation. State insurance departments would retain authority for regulating state-licensed insurers and producers.