Washington, D.C., June 10, 2008—The House of Representatives today convenes its first hearings on proposals to create a first-ever federal insurance overseer, an Office of Insurance Information. That’s good news for consumers, says Eli Lehrer, a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

In a new CEI OnPoint analysis, “Toward a National Market for Insurance,” Lehrer praised the bi-partisan "H.R. 5840, the Insurance Information Act of 2008 [1]". The bill is the subject of the Tuesday hearing by the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

“This is a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction,” says Lehrer. “An OII is a long-overdue measure that would help move us in the direction of a modern, flexible, globally competitive insurance market.”

Currently, the property and casualty insurance market is heavily regulated at the state level. The reform plan would begin the process of removing impediments for U.S. firms to operate in a liberalized national—and ultimately international—environment.

Read the OnPoint: Toward a National Market for Insurance, by Eli Lehrer [2]

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