what is the national association of insurance commissioners naic 
the national association of insurance commissioners naic is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization governed by the chief insurance regulators of the 50 states the district of columbia and the five u s territories american samoa guam the northern mariana islands puerto rico and the virgin islands the naic sets standards and establishes best practices for the u s insurance industry and provides support to insurance regulators it also provides information and resources to consumers 1 insurance products sold in the u s are largely regulated by the states rather than the federal government history of the national association of insurance commissionersthe naic was founded in 1871 by state insurance regulators to address the need to coordinate regulation of multistate insurers the first major step in that process was the development of uniform financial reporting by insurance companies 1because insurers often do business in multiple states the question of whether they should be regulated on a state or federal level has long been a matter of debate in the u s the 1944 supreme court case united states v the south eastern underwriters association determined that the insurance industry should be subject to regulation by congress under the commerce clause of the constitution which gives lawmakers regulatory authority over interstate and international commerce however congress effectively overrode that ruling the following year with the passage of the mccarran ferguson act which exempted the insurance industry from most federal regulation including antitrust laws 2today with few exceptions that regulatory authority still resides with the states and their elected or appointed insurance commissioners 