As the insurance landscape begins to change and take a new form, the role of the Federal Insurance Office, a federal agency set up after the passing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, is being questioned. Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department hosted a panel regarding new insurance regulations. At the panel, consumer advocacy groups, legislators and regulators offered their views of the Federal Insurance Office and what role it should play in the future’s insurance industry.
The opinions given were varied, with many consumer groups claiming that the agency, whose role it is to oversee the industry as a whole, was riddled with fallacies that led to gaps in the regulatory system of the nation. Insurance officials claimed that the agency was responsible for redundancies in the system, saying that new sets of regulations coming from the agency were almost identical to those enacted by states. Nonetheless, most of those participating in the panel said that new regulations were serving the insurance industry well as they helped companies remain solvent in a turbulent economy.
The Federal Insurance Office is currently putting together a report regarding the effects of new insurance regulations and how they will impact the industry. The agency will host its own conference next year, where it will release the report to the public and call for opinions regarding the changes coming to the industry and how businesses and consumers will cope in the future.
