August 11, 2010, Introduced by Reps. Constan, Liss, Polidori, Gonzales, Neumann, Huckleberry and Terry Brown and referred to the Committee on Senior Health, Security, and Retirement.
A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled
"The insurance code of 1956,"
(MCL 500.100 to 500.8302) by adding section 2007a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 2007a. (1) It is an unfair method of competition and an
unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance
for an insurance producer to use a senior-specific certification or
professional designation that indicates or implies in such a way as
to mislead a purchaser or prospective purchaser that the insurance
producer has special certification or training in advising or
servicing seniors in connection with the solicitation, sale, or
purchase of a life insurance or annuity product or in the provision
of advice as to the value of or the advisability of purchasing or
selling a life insurance or annuity product, either directly or
indirectly through publications or writings, or by issuing or
promulgating analyses or reports related to a life insurance or
annuity product.
(2) The prohibited use of senior-specific certifications or
professional designations under subsection (1) includes, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
(a) Use of a certification or professional designation by an
insurance producer who has not actually earned or is otherwise
ineligible to use such certification or designation.
(b) Use of a nonexistent or self-conferred certification or
professional designation.
(c) Use of a certification or professional designation that
indicates or implies a level of occupational qualifications
obtained through education, training, or experience that the
insurance producer using the certification or designation does not
have.
(d) Use of a certification or professional designation that
was obtained from a certifying or designating organization that
meets any of the following:
(i) Is primarily engaged in the business of instruction in
sales or marketing.
(ii) Does not have reasonable standards or procedures for
assuring the competency of its certificants or designees.
(iii) Does not have reasonable standards or procedures for
monitoring and disciplining its certificants or designees for
improper or unethical conduct.
(iv) Does not have reasonable continuing education requirements
for its certificants or designees in order to maintain the
certificate or designation.
(3) There is a rebuttable presumption that a certifying or
designating organization is not disqualified solely under
subsection (2)(d) if the certification or designation issued from
the organization does not primarily apply to sales or marketing and
if the organization or the certification or designation in question
has been accredited by any of the following:
(a) The American national standards institute.
(b) The national commission for certifying agencies.
(c) Any organization that is on the United States department
of education's list entitled "Accrediting Agencies Recognized for
Title IV Purposes".
(4) In determining whether a combination of words or an
acronym standing for a combination of words constitutes a
certification or professional designation indicating or implying
that a person has special certification or training in advising or
servicing seniors, all of the following shall be considered:
(a) Use of 1 or more words such as "senior", "retirement",
"elder", or like words combined with 1 or more words such as
"certified", "registered", "chartered", "advisor", "specialist",
"consultant", "planner", or like words, in the name of the
certification or professional designation.
(b) The manner in which the words listed in subdivision (a)
are combined.
(5) For purposes of this section, a job title within an
organization that is licensed or registered by a state or federal
financial services regulatory agency is not a certification or
professional designation, unless it is used in a manner that would
confuse or mislead a reasonable consumer, if the job title
indicates seniority or standing within the organization or
specifies an individual's area of specialization within the
organization. For purposes of this subsection, financial services
regulatory agency includes, but is not limited to, an agency that
regulates insurers, insurance producers, broker-dealers, investment
advisers, or investment companies as defined under the investment
company act of 1940, 15 USC 80a-1 to 80a-64.