Insurance Data Protection Act
Insurance Data Protection Act
Plain Language Summary
# Insurance Data Protection Act Summary **What the Bill Would Do** The Insurance Data Protection Act would restrict the federal government's ability to collect information from insurance companies. Specifically, it would eliminate the subpoena power of two federal offices: the Federal Insurance Office and the Office of Financial Research. These offices currently use subpoenas to gather data from insurers for purposes like detecting potential threats to the insurance industry or broader financial system.
Under this bill, federal regulators seeking insurance data would first have to try getting it from other regulators or public sources before directly requesting it from insurance companies, and even then would need to follow strict paperwork reduction procedures. **Who It Affects** This bill primarily affects insurance companies (which would face fewer federal information requests), federal financial regulators and oversight agencies (which would have reduced investigative tools), and potentially consumers (since regulators would have less data to identify industry risks or problems). The restrictions could limit the government's ability to spot warning signs of financial instability in the insurance sector. **Current Status** The bill was introduced by Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) in the 119th Congress and is currently in committee, meaning it has not yet been debated or voted on by the full Senate.
CRS Official Summary
Insurance Data Protection ActThis bill limits the ability of federal entities to compel insurance companies to share information.Specifically, the bill eliminates the subpoena power of the Federal Insurance Office. Under current law, the office has the power to subpoena information from insurers to, among other purposes, identify issues that could contribute to a systemic crisis in the insurance industry or the U.S. financial system.The bill also eliminates the ability of the Office of Financial Research to subpoena insurance companies.When seeking to collect insurance company data under specified consumer protection laws, a financial regulator must obtain the data from other regulators or from publicly available sources if possible. Otherwise, the financial regulator may only collect this data directly from the insurance company if the regulator complies with the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Latest Action
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.