InsuranceNewsNet Magazine January 2011 : Page 23
2011: THE HAZARDOUS ROAD AHEAD | FEATURE FEBRUARY 7 • The president’s budget is due. Many observers have been wary about tax policies the new budget might contain. Of particular concern is the inside cash buildup in permanent life insurance policies. This has been a rallying point for many insurance organizations such as the American Council of Life Insur-ers (ACLI) and the Association for Advanced Life Underwrit-ing (AALU). This was a subject brought up by the president’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. SEPTEMBER 30 • The FIO submits to Congress the new office’s first annual report on preemption of inconsistent state insurance measures, as per Dodd-Frank. • The FIO submits to Congress the new office’s first annual report on the insurance industry, as per Dodd-Frank. OCTOBER 1 MARCH 23 • Funding begins to be available, via grants to states, to help fund ACA-required establishment of American Health Ben-efit Exchanges and Small Business Health Options Program Exchanges. (Enrollment in exchanges begins Jan. 1, 2014.) • Administrative funding becomes available for the new Indepen-dent Payment Advisory Board. The board will develop and sub-mit proposals on reducing the per capita rate of growth in Medi-care spending if spending exceeds targeted growth rates. (First recommendations are due Jan. 15, 2014.) OCTOBER 3 • The Supreme Court begins the 2011-2012 session. Many expect that a challenge to health care reform will make it to the top court. Some have speculated that it could be as early as this session, with cases making their way through at least three states. But the court has already rejected one attempt to move a case straight to the top court, and none of the cases seem to be far enough in the appeals process to be eligible this October. APRIL 1 • The SEC proposes “pay versus performance” rule, as per Dodd-Frank’s increased disclosure provisions. DECEMBER • The Federal Insurance Office finishes its study for Congress on how to modernize and improve insurance regulation, as per Dodd-Frank. Its report is due in January 2012. JULY 1 • The new FSOC established under Dodd-Frank submits its first annual report to Congress on the results of its monitoring of sys-temic risk throughout the financial system. • The new Office of Financial Research (OFR) created under Dodd-Frank completes setting up its office and systems. As the research arm of the new FSOC, OFR will collect information, including sensitive data, from regulatory agencies, bank holding compa-nies, and nonbank financial companies, and provide periodic reports on its findings. • New Department of Labor disclosure regulations take effect for defined contribution plan administrators and service providers that are subject to the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The regulations also apply to fiduciaries and service providers to all pension plans subject to ERISA. • The new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) takes on its responsibilities under Dodd-Frank, including writing rules to implement federal consumer financial laws and supervising big banks and nonbank financial services providers for compliance. January 2011 InsuranceNewsNet Magazine 23
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