Legal Seminar Planning Begins

The following individuals have agreed to serve on the 2007 Legal Seminar Planning Committee: Jack Falkenbach (chair), John Colpean, John Finston, Jan Funk, Joel Glover, Chuck Gullickson, Pete Leonard, Tad Rhodes, and Charlie Richardson. A kickoff seminar planning teleconference is being scheduled for early January 2007.

The 15th annual NOLHGA Legal Seminar is scheduled to take place on July 12-13, 2007, at the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco. The seminar will be held in conjunction with an MPC meeting on July 10-11. The Planning Committee's goal is to make this the best NOLHGA Legal Seminar ever, but they can't do it without your help. Please take a moment to think of one topic you believe should be addressed at the seminar and e-mail it to Meg Melusen at [email protected]. Also, don't forget to consider attendance at the Legal Seminar by the association manager, counsel, and board members in budgeting for 2007.

Update of the NAIC's Life & Health Model Act in Progress

At the NAIC's winter meeting in San Antonio in December 2006, the Model Act Revision Working Group (MARG) continued its review of the Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Model Act (Life Model Act) to determine whether changes are needed. The Life Model Act was recently and extensively updated in the late 1990s to reflect the life guaranty system's substantial insolvency experience of that decade.

During the meeting, representatives from a subgroup of MARG, NOLHGA, and the ACLI presented a limited number of recommended technical revisions to the Model Act. With the exception of two of those revisions, the MARG approved the recommendations. The two exceptions relate to the Life Model Act sections on guaranty association immunity and the plan of operations provisions. These sections will require further discussion.

In addition, there was extensive discussion during the meeting on the question of whether coverage limits should be raised. Those discussions will continue during 2007. To assist the discussions, the MARG will hold a teleconference meeting in January 2007 to identify additional data that it will request from the ACLI and the insurance industry. The group expects to continue substantive discussions on the coverage limits issue at the March NAIC meeting in New York City.

Please call Dave Perry (262.965.5761) or Bill O'Sullivan (703.787.4104) if you would like further information on this matter.