Washington Eyes Standards For Juvenile Life Insurance.Washington state Sen. Margarita Prentice Margarita Prentice is a Washington State Senator (Democrat) for the 11th District, which includes Seattle's Beacon Hill, South Park, and portions of Renton, Kent, Tukwila, Burien, and SeaTac. , D-Seattle, plans to propose legislation that would require insurers to develop stricter underwriting Underwriting 1. The process by which investment bankers raise investment capital from investors on behalf of corporations and governments that are issuing securities (both equity and debt). 2. The process of issuing insurance policies. guidelines for juvenile life insurance. This follows the release of a report compiled by the Washington State insurance commissioner's office that says many life insurers don't have adequate standards in place to protect children who are covered by life policies. Prentice said her proposed legislation would require companies to maintain records of underwriting rejections. Prentice said such records could be of value to law enforcement officials investigating a child's death. The report, Prentice said, shows that many insurers don't save such documentation. Former Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn Deborah Senn is a Washington politician. She was the Insurance Commissioner (1993-2001) and ran in the 2000 US Senate Democratic primary election against Maria Cantwell. In 2004, she unsuccessfully ran for Attorney General against Rob McKenna. Deborah also has her own law firm. said the report is based on a survey of the 100 life insurers operating in the state. About two-thirds of those companies sell juvenile life insurance. Senn, who left office Jan. 10 after a failed bid for the U.S. Senate, said 11 of the companies responding to the survey listed strong underwriting criteria, along with policy manuals and written guidelines, 'leaving no doubt about how policies should be sold." Another 27 companies summarized more general underwriting guidelines; 24 companies submitted no underwriting guidelines, except for citing "insurable interest A right, benefit, or advantage arising out of property that is of such nature that it may properly be indemnified. In the law of insurance, the insured must have an interest in the subject matter of his or her policy, or such policy will be void and unenforceable since it ." Senn said companies lack the incentive to implement strong underwriting guidelines for juvenile life insurance because "it is a lucrative business-a--very healthy pool to begin with, few death benefits paid and many lapsed LEGACY, LAPSED. A legacy is said to be lapsed or extinguished, when the legatee dies before the testator, or before the condition upon which the legacy is given has been performed, or before the time at which it is directed to vest in interest has arrived. Bac. Ab. Legacy, E; Com. Dig. policies." Medical underwriting medical underwriting Managed care The process of determining the medical needs of an individual or group before providing coverage. See Health insurance. , on the other hand, often is "very strictly enforced" to screen out sick children, Senn said. |
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