NAMIC Welcomes House Bill to Reform Federal Insurance Office

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies has welcomed the reintroduction of the Insurance Data Protection Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill seeks to protect consumers from duplicative and unnecessary federal overreach.

“Congress created the Federal Insurance Office with the explicit mandate that it is not a regulator, not an enforcement agency, and not an investigator,” said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for NAMIC. “Insurance is regulated by the states, as it has been for decades. FIO was meant to provide information to members of Congress and federal policymakers when their work could have an impact on the insurance industry or consumers. This bill would make sure the office sticks to that core mission.”

Introduced by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., the IDPA would prevent the Federal Insurance Office from encroaching on state-based insurance regulation by removing its subpoena authority. The office’s statutory mandate under the Dodd-Frank Act is to make use of publicly available information and work with state regulators wherever possible, with subpoena powers to remain a last resort.

However, the office has repeatedly sought to duplicate or intrude on state regulatory efforts and threatened to issue subpoenas to enact the previous administration’s political agenda on climate issues. As a result, earlier this year NAMIC voiced support for H.R. 643, the Federal Insurance Office Elimination Act.

 “While Congress considers eliminating FIO altogether, at a bare minimum, it ought to usher in reforms like removing the office’s subpoena powers, which have become a political weapon and a first option rather than a last resort,” said Grande. “FIO isn’t serving its intended purpose, and as such it needs to be fixed or eliminated.”

A companion bill has been introduced by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, as well as ten other Republican members of the committee. Rep. Fitzgerald and Sen. Britt were recognized as NAMIC’s Co-2024 Federal Legislators of the Year.