Q: Who Ultimately Pays?

  • Lawsuits
  • Senate Agenda - [VIDEO-CSPAN]
    • Harry Hohn of the American Council of Life Insurance, talked about goals for insurance companies.
      • They want to limit punitive damage awards for all classes of defendants.
      • The cost of these outrageous awards are always passed onto the consumer.
  • 2003 0507 - GOV (Senate) - The Impact of the Global Settlement - [PDF-134p]
    • Senator Dodd (D-CT): But I would be very interested in the SEC’s analysis of that very question.
      • And it is an obvious one that people watching this, the idea somehow that we have talked about a $1.4 billion penalty for fraudulent, illegal, highly unethical behavior.
      • And then to discover that, potentially, two-thirds, in fact, certainly in one area, but potentially, two-thirds of that figure, almost a billion dollars of the $1.4 billion may be tax deductible and may be insurable, which means that others are going to end up paying one way or the other for this.
      • And that is the point that sticks in people’s craw.  (p29)

We are raising fees, we are goofing around with this thing, in every which way, when we were very successful in the way we handled it before, and I think the number of registrations will increase.

  • I don't think we are ripping off the companies when we charge them these exhorbitant fees, and I don't know how you go about collecting money in any other manner, but you constantly increase the fees, and you run them out.
    • If that is what you want to do, maybe we should, and have a 51 or 52 member organization meeting and meet in secret where they can't be there.
  • We are not encouraging them by increasing the fees all the time, and we know where all that money comes from, don't we?
  • The same place ours comes from -- the public.

1983-4, NAIC Proceedings

  • James Schacht (IL): A simplistic "we can make the industry pay for it" attitude is certainly not the answer.
    • As we all know, it is not the "industry" but the policyholders who ultimately pay.
    • Furthermore, we must reverse the trend toward financial over-dependence on the very industry we are responsible for regulating.  (p173)

1995-1, NAIC Proceedings