[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 53 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13337-13338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7065]
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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
22 CFR Part 514
Exchange Visitor Program, Insurance Coverage
AGENCY: United States Information Agency.
ACTION: Notice to sponsors of exchange visitor programs.
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SUMMARY: In March 1993, the United States Information Agency
(``Agency'') published a comprehensive set of final rules governing the
exchange visitor program established under the authority of the Mutual
Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 CFR Part 514.)
Section 514.14 establishes requirements regarding health insurance
coverage on exchange visitors who come to the United States on the J
visa. Those requirements merely establish criteria for insurance
coverage on exchange
[[Page 13338]]
visitors, and they in no way purport to invalidate, impair or supersede
State laws regulating the insurance industry.
DATES: This Notice to Sponsors is effective March 19, 1998.
ADDRESSES: United States Information Agency, Office of the General
Counsel, Rulemaking 115, 301 Fourth Street, SW, Room 700, Washington,
DC 20547-0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William G. Ohlhausen, Assistant
General Counsel, United States Information Agency, 301 Fourth Street,
S.W., Washington, DC 20547; telephone (202) 619-6972.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final rules adopted by the Agency in
March 1993 include a rule requiring that exchange visitors entering the
United States on the J visa be covered by health insurance providing
certain minimum coverage levels and that the insurance be underwritten
by insurance corporations meeting certain nationally or internationally
recognized financial ratings. 22 CFR 514.14. Federal, State or local
government agencies, State colleges and universities, public community
colleges, and, with Agency permission, non-governmental sponsors, may
self-insure. 22 CFR 514.14 (c) and (d).
It has long been established by statute that the business of
insurance, and every person engaged therein, is subject to the laws of
the State or States in which such business is conducted. Federal law
makes it clear that no Act of Congress shall be construed to
invalidate, impair or supersede any State law regulating or taxing the
business of insurance. [15 U.S.C. 1012 (known as the ``McCarran-
Ferguson Act of 1948''] That law allows an exception only with respect
to the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the Federal Trade
Commission Act, and then only to the extent that the insurance business
is not regulated by State law.
The Agency's regulation set forth at 22 CFR 514.14 does not purport
to regulate the business of insurance, either in the United States or
in foreign countries. It merely establishes mandatory minimum levels of
coverage on health insurance policies issued to exchange visitors and
requires that insurance companies underwriting such policies meet
certain minimum financial ratings set by recognized insurance company
rating services.
It has come to the Agency's attention that there have been
instances where foreign insurance companies and their agents have been
conducting business in a State or States where they are
``unauthorized,'' i.e., unlicensed or otherwise not meeting the
requirements of State law. Merely complying with the Agency's insurance
regulation does not permit foreign insurance companies to do business
in a State if the conduct of the business is a violation of that
State's laws.
Nothing in the foregoing is meant to suggest that exchange visitors
are prohibited from obtaining the required insurance coverage in their
home country, as long as the policy of insurance and the company from
which it is purchased meets USIA's requirements. However, foreign
insurance companies and their agents conducting exchange visitor
program health insurance business in the United States are required to
be in compliance with the laws governing the business of insurance in
the State or States where such business is being conducted.
List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 514
Cultural Exchange Programs.
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(J), 1182, 1184, 1258; 22 U.S.C.
1431-1442, 2451-2460; Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1997, 3 CFR, 1977
Comp., p. 200; E.O. 12048 of 3/27/78, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 168.
Dated: March 13, 1998.
Les Jin,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 98-7065 Filed 3-18-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M
