August 24, 2010
Further regulation of the insurance industry is not the responsibility nor the priviledge of the federal government. It is the states job to regulate the insurance industry and they are doing a fine job.
By imposing the fiduciary responsibility on insurance agents you impede the ability of the agent to perform his job, you reduce the options that the agent can offer his/her clients and you create an unecessary risk and liability for agents. All of these do more damage to the consumer than good.
Our civil judicial system has only ever increased costs and frustrations in any industry it has become involved in. By imposing the fiduciary standard on agents you will increase costs for agents and companies which are passed on to the consumer as well as causing many agents to leave the industry which gives consumers less access to the help they need.
This country was based on the ideals of free market and personal responsibility. The agent presents products in a free market system and the buyer chooses a product based on whether or not they find the product and the advice of the agent to be credible.
Please do not further erode the ideals of free market and personal responsibility by handing another industry over to an already broken tort system. Allow the states to perform their task of oversight and leave the federal government out of the equation.