On February 7, the NAIC released “State Ahead,” the organization’s strategic plan for the next three years. Michael F. Consedine, NAIC CEO, stated that “an important part of State Ahead is making the organization more nimble and efficient, allowing us to use our wealth of data and technology for new and better purposes tailored to meet what regulators are seeing in their markets and what they’re going to be seeing three years from now.” Consedine also proclaimed that, “[i]n the next three years, we are going to build an enduring and robust regulatory framework that accounts for the transformation of the markets our members regulate.”

State Ahead is organized into three core themes: (1) Safe, Solvent and Stable Markets, (2) Consumer Protection and Education and (3) Superior Member Services and Resources. State Ahead begins by identifying a number of factors that are contributing to a reshaping of the insurance industry, and focuses a considerable amount of attention on leveraging new technologies and data collecting. State Ahead discusses each theme with an outline of each goal that corresponds to that theme. State Ahead also outlines the costs for achieving the stated goals, with a projected base budget of $5,991,324 for the years 2018-2020. Finally, State Ahead highlights investments that the NAIC will be making over the next three years in furtherance of enhancing state insurance regulation.

The goals outlined in State Ahead include the following:

• Implement the use of cloud platforms, self-service business intelligence tools and other useful technologies.
• Facilitate state insurance regulator collaboration and data sharing.
• Evaluate the regulatory opportunities stemming from macroprudential surveillance.
• Restructure the NAIC’s Market Conduct Annual Statements application and process for filing.
• Leverage use of industry data and data from external sources such as SEC filings.
• Restructure the Consumer Information Source application to facilitate a simpler process for consumers to conduct searches and develop data reports.
• Create a single source for consumers to find each state insurance department’s releases and provide insurance departments with consumer alerts covering a wide range of insurance-related events.
• Educate consumers about insurance and financial literacy while educating insurance departments on how to better communicate with consumers.
• Report on, and educate regulators about, changes in the insurance marketplace, including new innovations and technology.
• Work with members to identify personnel training needs and develop programs to fit those needs.
• Maintain and further develop cybersecurity awareness and monitoring.
• Complete internal assessments of the NAIC and its operations, including reevaluating outdated technologies and removing committee groups that are no longer necessary.

We will continue to monitor and report on developments relating to the implementation of State Ahead.