[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




THE CLAIMS LICENSING ADVANCEMENT FOR INTERSTATE MATTERS ACT (CLAIM ACT)

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                        HON. STEPHEN LEE FINCHER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 9, 2015

  Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Claims 
Licensing Advancement for Interstate Matters Act, known as the CLAIM 
Act to help consumers save millions of dollars in insurance costs and 
create more jobs.
  Under current law, independent claims adjusters face a hodgepodge of 
inconsistent state regulations that only serve to delay the prompt 
adjustment of claims for natural disasters, accident victims, and other 
tragedies in life. Independent claims adjusters must take a license 
examination in each state in which they work. This requires adjusters 
to take time off from their job and travel to each state in which they 
seek a license. This is a costly burden on the claims adjusters, the 
companies that employ them, and ultimately, the consumer. Sadly, it is 
the consumer who currently pays for these costs in higher premiums.
  Today, it is my pleasure to introduce a bill that would end this 
costly burden. The CLAIM Act would lead to a process that would provide 
independent claims adjusters licensing reciprocity so their home-state 
license is valid in any other state.
  This legislation builds upon the success Congress has already had in 
encouraging states to coordinate licensing for agents and brokers, and 
appropriately expands that precedent to claims adjusters, who face many 
of the same licensing issues.
  To be clear, the CLAIM Act does not create a new federal law and does 
not ``federalize'' the insurance industry. The CLAIM Act respects 
states' rights to continue to regulate insurance. The CLAIM Act would 
make sure that each state keeps its independence to adopt rules as they 
see fit and recognizes that state insurance regulators are best 
situated to address insurance licensing standards.
  The goal of this bill is to streamline the claims adjustment process 
so that individual claims adjusters can respond in the fastest possible 
and most cost-effective manner possible. I look forward to further 
discussing the issues of uniformity and reciprocity and the CLAIM Act 
as we move forward in the Committee process.

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