Introduction
The insurance industry in the United States of America is one of the biggest and continually transforming industries that gives millions of people the assurance they need in order to cope with risks associated with life. On health and life insurance, property and casualty insurance, this article gives a detailed coverage of the Insurance Industry in USA. This paper will attempt to address the structure of the industry, the governing laws, and the industry players, as well as the future prospects of the industry. We will now turn the focus on insurance and reveal the imperative knowing in the insurance industry in the United States.
1. The amount of detail of the insurance industry structure in the USA
The insurance industry in the USA involves a web of participants comprising of insurers, agents and brokers as well as policyholders. It creates an insurance product system where a number of insurance products can be offered to meet the variety of customer needs.
i. Insurers
Insurance firm is the main actor in the insurance business. These companies provide their consumers with all types of insurance including, but not limited to: health insurance, life insurance, property and casualty insurance and others. Some may work as business oriented insured programs and others may be no-profit insured programs which may cover specific people and groups. There are various classes of insurers, these include the stock insurers, mutual insurers, reciprocal or inter-insurance exchanges and those of Lloyd’s of London agents.
ii. Agents and brokers
The following analysis shows that insurance agents and brokers are very important in the insurance industry as they attract insurers and policyholders. Benz hire insurance agents work for the insurance companies and only deal with company’s products while brokers are independent hence they can place policies from more companies to themselves ensure you got the best cover.
iii. Policyholders
The policy holders are coming at the last layer of the insurance industry – the people and companies who ultimately buy the insurance policies. Insurance consumers or policybuyers, as these people are known, buy this product as a safeguard against losing out through misfortune, including sickness, accidents or damage to property.
2. The following is a comprehensive paper that assesses and describes the role of the regulatory environment of the insurance sector in the USA
This paper seeks to analyze various insurance industry players in the USA coupled with regulatory frameworks that govern the industry with an aim of ensuring consumer rights while promoting the fair competition among the insurance industry participants. Federal and state insurance regulators are NAIC at the federal level and the Department of Insurance at the state level and the FIO.
i. National Association of Insurance Commissioners
The NAIC is an organization of the insurance regulators of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five US territories that operates on a not-for-profit basis. Its main objective is to generate model law and regulation with an aim of safeguarding the interests of consumers and promoting the credibility of the industry.
ii. In individual states, there is Department of Insurance
Each state has its own Department of Insurance- legislative and executive branch charged with the regulation of the insurance business in the state. These state regulators are responsible that insurers making use of such jurisdictional services follow the state laws about solvency, capital, and coverage.
iii. Federal Insurance Office (FIO)
The federal insurance office or FIO its an organization which is under the Department of the Treasury in the United States and its main functions entails the regulation of the insurance industry at federal level. Its functions include the surveillance of the financial situation of the insurers, consideration and the recommendation of the federal insurance laws as well as the safeguarding of policy owners in the event of a failing insurance company.
3. Large insurance firms in the insurance industry of the USA
Concentration ratios in the USA insurance market are fairly high and suggest that a number of large insurance companies have a large market share. The three largest property and casualty insurance companies, State Farm, Allstate, and Liberty Mutual serve a large market share.
Major other health and life insurers include UnitedHealth Group, Aetna, Humana and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Some of these companies’ include; These companies provide insurance solutions and insurance solutions to consumers and corporate entities.
4. This paper aims at analyzing the future outlook for the insurance sector in the USA
Insurance industry in USA is set to grow years for the forth coming years due to increased population, burgeoning economy, an elevated level of awareness amongst the population about insurance. It is also being proposed that technological changes will also be influential in changing the insurance industry by use of AI, and machine learning and also use of the block chain technology.
Therefore, insurance industry in the USA is quite vast and competitive and carries out the important functions of providing people and companies with financial protection against the unforeseeable events. Looking at the structure of the insurance industry and its regulations as well as the major players we further get an insight into the insurance market and its direction in the United States i. It is therefore important that policyholders update themselves and elect wisely to be insured by the right cover as the industry progresses.
