Use of Senior-Specific Designations in New York

March 11, 2011 - PRLog -- The State of New York and Department of Insurance recently announced the January 19, 2011, emergency adoption of a rule regarding the use of senior-specific designations by insurance agents in New York.  This adoption is a commendable action as it made the protection of seniors a high priority in the New York insurance industry.  Seniors can often be misled by the alphabet soup of designations and certificates behind an agent’s name.  State regulation of designations is very beneficial to helping limit designation use to only those with the highest requirements for agents to earn and maintain their membership.  

New York 11 NYCRR 225, Regulation 199 follows the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) model rule regarding use of senior-specific designations.  Under this rule, designations that meet accreditation requirements from National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and other listed requirements are considered acceptable for use.  Designations that are considered not acceptable for use are non-existent designations, self-conferred designations, or designations that do not have standard requirements applicants need to meet in order to earn the designation.  

Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) has been accredited by NCCA since September 2008 and maintains a high level of standards and requirements for applicants.  As states continue to adopt rules similar to the rule adopted in New York, we are proud to work with each state department and the individual members to ensure the CSA designation continues to be upheld to the highest ethical standards and each member is following the Code of Professional Conduct.

To see the text of the New York law, please visit http://ins.state.ny.us/r_emergy/pdf/re199t.pdf.  
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Note:  The press release issued by the State of New York (http://ins.state.ny.us/press/2011/p1103081.htm) uses an example of “certified senior advisor” as a designation that cannot be used under the new rule.  This example is incorrect and we have requested a correction from the Department.  For more information please contact us at breannm@csa.us

About SCSA
SCSA’s mission is to educate professionals to work more effectively with their senior clients. For those who work with seniors, this means understanding the key health, social and financial factors that are important to seniors—and how these factors work together. CSAs are able to integrate this into their professional practices, no matter what field they’re in. They’ve learned how incredibly gratifying it is to help seniors achieve their goals, and the seniors they’ve worked with have learned how important it is to work with someone who truly understands their age-related circumstances.  For more information about SCSA and its educational course, please visit http://www.csa.us.

Contact:
Erica Ananich, SCSA
(888) 538-2599
society@csa.us
http://www.csa.us/blog

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SCSA educates professionals to work more effectively with their senior clients. That means understanding the key health, social & financial factors that are important to seniors — so you can find success in the senior market.