Federal Advisory Committee on 

Insurance

December 3, 2020 

COVID-19 Subcommittee 2 –

Preparedness

Recommendations
COVID-19 Subcommittee 2 - Members

• Quincy Branch, Chief Executive Officer, Branch Benefits 

Consultants

• Rob Falzon, Vice Chair, Prudential

• Doug Heller, Insurance Expert, Consumer Federation of 

America

• George Keiser, Representative, North Dakota House of 

Representatives

• Peter Kochenburger, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, 

University of Connecticut Law School

• Vicki Schmidt, Commissioner, Kansas Insurance Department

• Betsy Ward, CFO, MassMutual (Chair)
Emerging Lessons

Recommendations

• The Subcommittee recommends that FIO reiterate the importance of insurance being 

deemed a business essential service and encourage federal and state regulators to allow for 

regulatory compliance efficiencies, coordinate, or take similar relief actions during a future 

pandemic or emergency, while ensuring consumers and investors continue to have timely 

access to critical services and information. 

• Further, as the pandemic continues, it is clear that certain SEC and DOL actions were helpful 

given the circumstances. However, as we continue to confront the challenges of this 

pandemic and develop better ways to prepare for future crises and pandemics, both 

industry and regulators will need to plan to confront these challenges as part of resiliency 

planning for uninterrupted regulatory oversight and approvals as well as ongoing business 

operations.

• These plans and preparations should include solutions so industry and regulators can operate 

as normally as possible, with the understanding that future crises may also have unique 

qualities that will still require regulatory relief and unanticipated solutions. 

• Also, the NAIC’s coordination to work together to create, distribute and collect a uniform 

survey on exposure should there be another pandemic is a useful process for future 

pandemics.
Ensuring Resiliency in the Event of a 

Pandemic

Recommendations 

• The Subcommittee recommends that FIO encourage regulatory agencies and insurers that 

have not already done so, either voluntarily or for purposes of satisfying regulatory 

requirements (e.g., ORSA), to develop strategies that address the key organizational 

challenges a pandemic poses in preparation for a future event. This may be done either as 

part of a broader business continuity plan, disaster plan, or a unique pandemic plan. Such a 

plan should:

– Identify programs that can be undertaken in advance of a pandemic that would diminish 

its impact on the organization and allow for the continuation of essential services;

– Present strategies for responding to operational challenges created by a pandemic, 

including a need for remote working, identification of essential staff, and redeployment 

of staff to key functions, among others;

– Determine critical interdependencies with external entities and steps to support them 

during a pandemic; and

– Provide guidance for prioritizing the allocation of resources in the event that a pandemic 

diminishes an organization’s capacity for an extended time period or place new 

demands on the organization that compete with other priorities or obligations it has in 

normal times, while maintaining essential services.
Premium Grace Period Principles

Recommendations 

• If there is a state of emergency declared, the Subcommittee recommends that FIO should 

support the following principles for insurance premium relief for a future event. 

– Allowing premium payments up to a total of 90 days from the premium due date so that 

the policy is not canceled or lapsed;

– Allowing reasonable repayment options for unpaid premiums;

– Waiving any late premium payment fees or penalties; 

– Providing reasonable flexibility to policyholders or their beneficiaries regarding proof of 

claim; and

– Providing policyholders the ability to make premium payments, report a claim or 

otherwise communicated with the policyholders’ insurer or producer electronically, or if 

in person, by maintaining safe social distancing standards
Temporary Regulatory Relief that Should 

Be Made Permanent

Recommendations 

E-Delivery

• The Subcommittee believes it is appropriate that FIO engage various stakeholders to conduct 

a study of Federal and State regulations relating to the use of e-delivery in the insurance 

sector. The study should identify and explore existing regulatory barriers limiting insurers’ 

and customers’ ability to utilize the advantages of technological developments through the 

use of e-delivery, thereby enabling conduct of business in a manner consistent with today’s 

consumer expectations. 

• The study should summarize statutory and federal regulatory requirements relating to edelivery for insurance products, identify ways to improve existing laws and regulations, 

including areas for increased regulatory flexibility and opportunities to harmonize any 

inconsistent laws and regulations.

• The FIO should solicit input from regulators, insurers, consumers, and other stakeholders as 

part of this study.
Temporary Regulatory Relief that 

Should Be Made Permanent

Recommendations

E-Signature

• FIO should encourage both Federal and state regulators to permit or, to the extent e- signature is already adopted, enhance the use of e-signature for insurance transactions and 

regulatory filings where appropriate and applicable. Regulators should be encouraged to 

review relevant insurance guidance and rules that require a signature to expressly allow that 

requirement to be satisfied by an e-signature.

E-Filing

• FIO should encourage state regulators that have not already done so to transition to 

electronic insurance company regulatory filings where appropriate and applicable.
Temporary Regulatory Relief that 

Should Be Made Permanent

Recommendation

Producer Licensing

• The COVID Subcommittee- Preparedness Workstream 2 would like to recommend 

that FIO encourage state regulators to transition to online/remote exams and 

training for producer licensing. As noted in Subcommittee discussions, several 

states are currently working to move training and examinations online, but it will 

take some time as there are a limited number of vendors available to do this work. 

Also, the NAIC has worked with state regulators to increase the number of states 

offering remote proctored exams from one in March 2020 to 21 as of September 

2020. Additional states are exploring the possibility of remote exams in the 4th 

quarter of 2020.

• FIO should encourage state regulators that have not already done so to adopt 

online/remote training and examination options for producer licensing where 

possible.