CDS '06 – Chicago, Illinois
The Winds of Change

This year the CDS opened with the appearance of comedian Rex Havens. Once he warmed the audience up with his hilarious routine, Mr. Havens turned the stage over to Bill Bailey. Mr. Bailey along with Sinead Rice Madigan, director of the Senior Health Insurance Program for the Illinois Division of Insurance, Todd Henricks, member of the board of the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois and Mississippi attorney Jim Moore Jr. discussed how Uncle Sam manages the insurance and quasi-insurance programs already under its control. The issues discussed included the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) and Medicare Part D enrollment problems, problems agents have encountered with the Federal Crop Insurance Program; and the question of flood versus wind damage.

The morning general session on day two of the CDS featured Terry Bowden, longtime college football coach who now hosts ABC Television's top-rated college sports show. With the Auburn Tigers, Bowden posted the best opening five-year run of any head coach in school history, with a 73% overall winning percentage. His motivational talk, which drew on his own success in sports and broadcasting, was a rousing presentation that convinced those in attendance that with the proper attitude, any goal can become a reality.

The 2006 CDS also included a series of individual breakout session hosted by the following seven sections. Scroll down or use the links below to see a description of the breakout session by section.

• Consumer Services Section
• Enforcement & Compliance Section
• Financial Section
• Life & Health Section
• Market Regulation Section
• Producer Licensing Section
• Property and Casualty Section

The CDS wrapped it all up with three joint sessions that covered topics applicable to many different areas of regulation.

IRES also honored several members during the CDS, specifically:

• IRES members who had met the rigorous requirements for its two professional designations were recognized.

• The Al Greer Award was awarded to Lynette A. Baker of Ohio Insurance Department for her work on the standardized data calls and the Market Conduct Annual Statement

• The Schrader Nelson Award for the best article in the Society's newsletter, The Regulator, was awarded to Rebecca Westmore of the California Department of Insurance for her article "California Targets Illegal Title Arrangements" which appeared in the January 2006 issue.

• The President's Award was presented to Jo A. LeDuc, CIE for her outstanding service to IRES.

• A special Membership Drive Award was presented to Chester A. Derk, AIE, of Pennsylvania, for recruiting seven new members during the 2nd annual membership drive.

• The crystal gavel was presented to outgoing president Stephen E. King by the incoming president, Douglas A. Freeman.

Career Development Sessions

Consumer Services Section

• Flood Insurance – Everything you Wanted to Know but were Afraid to Ask – Provided an over of who the National Flood Program insures, how to apply, the duties of the agent, the rates and how are claims handled.

• Privacy – What Must we do to Ensure Compliance? – Explored how the federal mandates of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and various state requirements affect insurers and insurance departments.

• Emerging Complaint Handling Issues – Identified current evolving issues that affect consumer services, including E-commerce, uniform coding, multilingual challenges and privacy mandates, and discussed ways to handle them.

• Consumer Services Roundtable – Provided an open discussion forum for regulators and industry.

Enforcement & Compliance Section

• ABC's of Producer Compliance – Focus on producer compliance, providing the basic information that a producer needs to be in compliance with state requirements, in order to retain his license.

• Compliance Study and Update of the USA PATRIOT Act – Focused on the PATRIOT Act, providing the federal legislative guidelines and recent changes and updates.

• Compliance 101 – Focus on a compliance unit and provided insurers with the do's and don'ts for establishing an effective unit and regulators with benchmarks for a compliance unit.

• Enforcement & Compliance Roundtable – Provided an open discussion forum for regulators and industry.

Financial Section

• Captives – What are They All About? – Looked at the captive insurance market in general as well as an in-depth look into the thriving South Carolina captive market.

• Holding Company Analysis – Provided an understanding of the holding company structure and how it affects an individual entity, including data collection, international holding company considerations, and holding company analysis general checklist.

• Lead State Examinations and the Future of Association Examinations – Looked at how future examinations will be coordinated by providing an example of how one major insurance group was examined using this new NAIC concept.

• Financial Roundtable – Provided an open discussion forum for regulators and industry.

Life & Health Section

• Medicare Changes and the Impact on States – Discussed where are we at with the changes to Medicare and what impact if any have states felt with the changes to Medicare using a federal vs. state look at the subject.

• Insider's Prospective on the Legislative Process – Provided an explanation of the legislative process, what takes place to get proposed bills considered by committees and ultimately passed by the General Assembly.

• Insurance Reform: Why? What? When? – Discussed a broad range of topics, including state-run health plans, universal health care and optional federal charters. This also provided an update to state regulators on the status of these issues, along with federal and possible state views.

• Life & Health Roundtable – Provided an open discussion forum for regulators and industry.

Market Regulation Section

• A Demonstration of the NAIC's Market Analysis Review Process – Provided a demonstration of a hypothetical NAIC Level 1 Market Analysis Reviews for each possible outcome: 1) Level 2 analysis scheduled. 2) Proceed within the continuum of regulatory response. 3) Refer to collaborative action designee (CAD) and MAWG for possible collaborative activity. 4) No further analysis necessary.

• Market Conduct Annual Statement: How Does it Work? – Explored how this data and analysis is being used by insurance regulators and why companies should be sure their filings are correct.

• Interstate Collaboration – Explored how effective are interstate collaborations, what works well, what pitfalls must be avoided, how the industry views them and what role does the NAIC plays.

• Market Regulation Roundtable – Provided an open discussion forum for regulators and industry.

Producer Licensing Section

• Public Adjusters – What They Do for You – Explored the topic of public adjusted and whether they are the insurance industry's best kept secret.

• What Will Be.com – Looked at the various producer licensing working groups and related IT initiatives that streamline producer licensing procedures.

• Continuing Education Survival Guide – Looked at the various state requirements that drive producers, national providers and regulators crazy and discussed what's on the horizon in terms of specialty requirements in the CE world such as long-term care, equity index and flood insurance requirements.

• Producer Licensing Roundtable – Provided an open discussion forum for regulators and industry.

Property and Casualty Section

• Yes, Again – The Industry's Continuing use of Credit Scores in Underwriting and Pricing - Discussed the status of the feds' review, what the credit modelers and industry are doing to take into consideration the underwriting and rating of those existing and potential policyholders who have suffered as a result of the Gulf Coast events.

• Will I Ever be Able to Get Insurance Again for my Coastal Home? – Discussed how much premium rates nationwide have been and will be affected by events along the Gulf Coast, and even whether insurance will be available and affordable in the future.

• What Went Wrong and What Went Right During the Gulf Coast Events – Discuss what Regulators, NAIC staff and industry and consumer representatives have done regarding affected residents and what they're doing to prepare for future such catastrophic events.

• Property & Casualty Roundtable – Provided an open discussion forum for regulators and industry.

Joint Sessions

• Are Seniors Protected When Purchasing Annuities and Long Term Products? – Identified problems that can occur in the sale of these products and discussed suitability and disclosure laws and regulations, and best practices that try to assist and protect the public.

• The Quiet Collaborative Action – Discussed the coordination between market regulation and producer licensing, including how producer licensing assists in market regulation, how market regulation affects producer licensing, capture and retention of information, provisions and essential information about 18 USC 1003, and reporting of RIRS actions.

• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Federal Regulatory Oversight of Insurance – Provided an update on the Smart Act, the National Insurance Act (NIA), the recent hearing on the McCarran-Ferguson exemption and the probably of more hearings on federal regulator proposals to follow.