MPC Meets in Hilton Head Island

The Members' Participation Council (MPC) met in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on October 24, 2005. The following are summaries of task force insolvency reports presented during the meeting:

  Staff Contact - Sean McKenna Executive Life Insurance Company (Calif.)

The Executive Life MPC met in closed session.

Task Force Chair - Art Dummer;   Staff Contact - Bill O'Sullivan Life & Health Insurance Company of America (Pa.)

Task Force Chair Linda Becker (Kansas) reported on recent activity in this insolvency, including an August 25 meeting with the receiver and the progress of the request-for-proposal process for the long-term care block of business (two companies are expected to submit proposals by the November 15 deadline). The task force is also initiating an outside audit of the TPA's performance and is working with the receiver on asset recovery, claim valuation, additional early access distributions, and other matters.

Task Force Chair - Linda Becker;   Staff Contact - London Pacific Life & Annuity Company (N.C.)

Task Force Chair Frank Gartland (Ohio) reported that administration of the "stayback" business is continuing and that the business continues to run off. Bart Boles (Texas) gave attendees an overview of a review performed by a task force subgroup to assess the performance of Philadelphia American Life Insurance Company, which is administering the "stayback" business. A final report from the subgroup should be ready in the near future.

Task Force Chair - Frank Gartland;   Staff Contact - Paul Peterson Reliance Insurance Company (Pa.)

Task Force Chair Tad Rhodes (Oklahoma) reviewed activity in the Reliance estate, including a recent meeting with the receiver and an $800,000 distribution made to the guaranty associations. The task force continues to respond to audit requests and monitor asset recovery efforts, which are going well. In addition, the task force is working to resolve the large disability claims, and Mr. Rhodes noted that the receiver has been very cooperative in this matter.

Task Force Chair - Tad Rhodes;   Staff Contact - States General Life Insurance Company (Tex.)

The States General MPC met in the round and discussed the pending assumption agreement with New Era, the status of litigation relating to the States General estate, and the omnibus proof of claim being compiled by the task force.

Task Force Chair - Tad Rhodes;   Staff Contact - Joni Forsythe Thunor Trust Companies

Task Force Chair John Colpean (Michigan), as part of his update on the Thunor companies, reported that the expected ruling from the Mississippi liquidation court on the Peoples/Veterans/Settlers litigation was postponed by the disruption caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Task Force Chair - John Colpean;   Staff Contact -

Receiverships & Financial Services Addressed at MPC Meeting

In addition to the task force reports described above, the October MPC meeting featured a number of presentations on other topics. Jan Funk (Indiana), Dave Perry (Montana), and Joni Forsythe (NOLHGA staff) gave a presentation on proposed changes to the NAIC's Insurer Receivership Model Act (IRMA) that are causing a great deal of concern with respect to the potential adverse impact on members of the insurance stakeholder community and guaranty association system. NOLHGA President Peter Gallanis updated attendees on the latest developments in financial services modernization, reporting that two optional federal chartering bills are expected to be introduced in Congress in 2006, as is a version of the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency (SMART) Act.

In addition, MPC Chair Jack Falkenbach (Delaware) updated attendees on the proceedings of the morning's MPC Executive Committee meeting, which included updates from the Asset Recovery and New Member Orientation Subgroups, a progress report from a working group charged with updating the MPC Guidelines, and an overview of activity by the Guaranty System Modernization Task Force.

  Staff Contact - Sean McKenna

2004 Assessable Premium Data Released

The 2004 assessable premium data packages are expected to be sent to guaranty associations and insurance commissioners on October 28, 2005, via FedEx. As in the past few years, all information is contained on a CD-ROM database developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The package includes an overview of the assessment data survey process, testing completed on companies' filings, etc. (all in PDF format), as well as state-specific licensed and unlicensed data disks. The CD-ROM also contains various look-up functions to review companies' data survey filings or summary-level reports. It is important that the directions provided by PwC be followed when loading the data on your computer. Should you encounter any problems, please contact PwC at 703.918.3959.

Review of the data by guaranty associations is an important step in the process. Please contact Paul Peterson ([email protected] or 703.787.4119) should you have any questions or discover any errors in the data. In addition, we would greatly appreciate any comments or suggestions on ways to improve the CD-ROM functions, as this will be the format for data delivery in future years (hard-copy prints will no longer be provided).

Task Force Chair - Chuck Renn;   Staff Contact - Paul Peterson

Lee Tooman Passes Away

Lee Tooman, vice president of Golden Rule Insurance Company and a member of the board of the Louisiana Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association since 1999, passed away on October 26, 2005. Contributions can be made to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana. NOLHGA's thoughts and prayers are with the Tooman family.

  Staff Contact - Sean McKenna