The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) hosted its 2026 International Insurance Forum in Washington, D.C. on May 7-8, drawing a record 300 registrants from 20 jurisdictions worldwide. The forum, which convenes insurance regulators and industry leaders from across the globe, explored the most pressing challenges facing the insurance sector -- and the discussions have direct implications for American consumers.
AI Is Now a Mainstream Regulatory Topic
Artificial intelligence in underwriting and claims handling was a central theme at this year's forum. NAIC has made AI oversight one of its formal 2026 strategic priorities, and the international forum reflects growing recognition that AI-driven insurance decisions -- from pricing your auto policy to approving or denying a health claim -- require regulatory guardrails. Specific concerns raised at the forum included:
- Algorithmic bias in underwriting that may produce disparate outcomes for protected classes
- Lack of transparency when AI models determine premium increases at renewal
- Challenges in auditing third-party AI vendors used by insurers
While no binding rules came from the forum itself, the conversations are shaping model regulations that individual states will consider adopting.
Cybersecurity Remains a Top Concern
The Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Technology Committee -- chaired by Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky -- has cybersecurity as a standing priority in 2026. Insurance companies hold vast amounts of sensitive personal data, making them high-value targets. Forum discussions focused on how regulators can require stronger data security standards and ensure consumer notification when breaches occur. For consumers, this is a reminder that your insurance applications and claims data are a target -- using unique passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication on any insurer portal is good practice.
The Insurance Protection Gap
One recurring theme at international insurance forums is the protection gap -- the difference between economic losses from events like natural disasters and the portion actually covered by insurance. In the United States, this gap has widened significantly as home insurance becomes unavailable or unaffordable in high-risk states like California, Florida, and Louisiana. Forum discussions explored:
- How parametric insurance and microinsurance products can extend coverage to underserved populations
- The role of technology in reducing the cost of delivering insurance in lower-income markets
- How public-private partnerships can backstop private insurers in catastrophic loss scenarios
Political Risk and Economic Uncertainty
Forum attendees addressed the impact of geopolitical instability and domestic policy uncertainty on insurance markets. Trade disruptions, tariff changes, and shifting regulatory environments across jurisdictions create challenges for multinational insurers and reinsurers -- costs that ultimately flow through to consumer premiums.
Jeffrey Johnston Takes Over as CEO June 1
NAIC President Scott White used the forum to acknowledge the appointment of Jeffrey Johnston as permanent NAIC CEO, effective June 1, 2026. Johnston had been serving in an interim capacity since early 2026. White noted he had worked with Johnston for years and expressed confidence in his leadership for the organization's ongoing regulatory priorities. The NAIC's agenda under Johnston is expected to continue its focus on AI, climate resilience, and investment reform.
Mark Your Calendar
The 2027 NAIC International Insurance Forum is already scheduled for May 27-28, 2027, in Washington, D.C. The forum has grown steadily in attendance and scope as insurance regulators increasingly recognize that consumer protection in insurance markets requires coordinated global dialogue.
AI in Insurance: What Consumers Should Know Right Now
While the NAIC's AI governance work is regulatory in nature, its implications for consumers are practical and immediate. AI already shapes your insurance experience in ways that are largely invisible:
- Underwriting decisions: When you apply for coverage, many insurers now use AI models that pull from dozens of data sources — credit data, driving records, property databases, health records, prescription history — to make underwriting decisions faster than traditional manual review. The model's output may result in approval, denial, or pricing that reflects factors you were never told about.
- Renewal pricing: Some insurers use machine learning models to set individual renewal prices based on predicted price sensitivity — essentially charging more to customers they predict are less likely to shop around. This practice, sometimes called price optimization, is explicitly banned in some states but remains legal in others.
- Claims evaluation: AI models are increasingly used to triage, evaluate, and in some cases settle claims — particularly for property damage, where image analysis can estimate repair costs from photos. These models can introduce systematic errors that affect all claims of a certain type similarly.
The NAIC's work aims to establish standards that require transparency in these AI applications — what factors drove a rating decision, what data was used, and how consumers can challenge or seek reconsideration of adverse decisions. Until those standards are adopted broadly, consumers have limited visibility into how these models work.
The Protection Gap: An Underappreciated Consumer Risk
The protection gap — the difference between economic losses and insured losses — is typically discussed as a macroeconomic or regulatory concern. But for individual consumers, it represents a concrete financial risk: the possibility that a catastrophic event affects your home, car, or health in a way that your insurance doesn't cover.
The gap in US homeowners insurance has widened considerably in recent years as private carriers have exited high-risk markets. But there are also more subtle protection gaps that affect consumers who believe they're adequately insured:
- Underinsurance on dwelling coverage: Construction costs have risen 30–40% since 2020. Homeowners who set their coverage amount years ago and haven't updated it may be insured for significantly less than it would cost to rebuild their home — a gap that only becomes visible at the worst moment.
- Flood exclusions: Standard homeowners policies exclude flood damage, but many consumers don't fully understand this until a flood event occurs. The NFIP and private flood markets have significant coverage gaps relative to the actual at-risk population.
- Income protection gaps: As LIMRA's workplace benefits analysis shows, employer-provided disability coverage typically replaces only 60% of base salary, caps monthly benefits, and is taxable. Many households would face significant income shortfalls in an extended disability event even with group coverage.
The forum's discussions of parametric insurance — products that pay a fixed amount when a defined trigger event occurs (a specific wind speed, an earthquake above a certain magnitude, a flood reaching a set depth) — represent one possible future for closing protection gaps in high-risk areas where traditional indemnity insurance has become unaffordable or unavailable.
What International Coordination Means for US Consumers
The record international attendance at the 2026 forum reflects a genuine shift in how insurance regulation operates. Large insurers and reinsurers operate across dozens of jurisdictions. Regulatory arbitrage — structuring business to take advantage of the most permissive regime — is a real concern. Coordinated international standards on capital, AI governance, and climate risk disclosure make it harder for insurers to shift risk to less regulated environments while selling coverage in heavily regulated ones.
For US consumers, this coordination matters most in reinsurance — the wholesale market that determines what coverage the primary market can offer. Reinsurers are global entities operating under international regulatory frameworks. Better international coordination on how reinsurers treat climate risk and alternative assets helps ensure that the reinsurance capacity that underlies your home and auto coverage is sustainably structured.
Cybersecurity: Practical Steps for Insurance Consumers
The forum's cybersecurity discussions have direct practical relevance. Insurance companies are high-value targets because of the sensitive personal data they hold: health histories, Social Security numbers, financial information, and claims data. Several major insurance data breaches in recent years — affecting companies ranging from health insurers to auto carriers — have exposed millions of consumers' personal information.
Protecting yourself as an insurance consumer involves a few straightforward practices. Use unique, strong passwords for each insurer's online portal — a password manager makes this practical. Enable multi-factor authentication wherever your insurer offers it. Be cautious about phone calls or emails claiming to be from your insurer requesting sensitive information; call the number on the back of your insurance card to verify any unusual request. Monitor your credit for unusual activity, particularly after any major data breach notification.
If you receive a data breach notification from an insurer, take it seriously. The offered credit monitoring may not be sufficient depending on what data was exposed. Filing a complaint with your state insurance department creates a regulatory record. If health information was exposed, monitoring your Explanation of Benefits statements for unfamiliar claims can help detect medical identity theft early.