Newsletter

Greetings from the Compact! Greetings from the Compact! Spring is always an exciting and eventful time for the Compact Office, and this spring is no exception. I am excited to share what we have in store for our members in the coming weeks.

The Compact Officers will host the seventh Compact Roundtable on May 13 in Washington, D.C. Participants will discuss new processes under consideration including consultation services for states, accelerated rulemaking and an efficient appeals process . Important programming note: the start time for the Compact Roundtable has been moved to 12:00 pm ET, and it will now end at 3:00 pm ET. We are looking forward to a great discussion!

The Compact Office announced the Annual Identification and Prioritization of Uniform Standards Development for 2026. You may submit requests for new or amended Uniform Standards. Please use the Request for New Uniform Standards or Changes to Uniform Standards webform. Once submitted, your request will be automatically received; you do not have to submit the request more than once. All requests submitted by June 30, 2025, will be considered for 2026, but the Compact Office will accept requests at any time throughout the year. You can also view all the requests the Compact Office has received to date by visiting the Uniform Standard Identification Requests page.

The Spring 2025 Insurance Compact Webinar series is in full swing, but it’s not too late to take advantage of the great information the Compact Office has to offer! You will find the May sessions below which provide useful information for  member state regulators. All sessions will be recorded and available on NAIC Connect for on demand viewing. For more information about each session, check out the Events page.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our members, and we are here to provide whatever support they need.

Justin Zimmerman was appointed to lead the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance by Governor Phil Murphy in June 2023.

As Commissioner, Zimmerman serves as the chief regulator of New Jersey’s insurance industry, one of the largest in the nation, all state-chartered banks and credit unions, as well as consumer finance licensees.  He also leads Get Covered New Jersey, the state’s official health insurance marketplace.

Zimmerman joined the Department in January 2018, serving as the Department’s Chief of Staff, where he oversaw the executive management team and managed all aspects of the department’s policy implementation, under the direction of the Commissioner.

During his tenure as Chief of Staff, the department developed and implemented numerous consumer protections and programs impacting countless New Jerseyans, including New Jersey’s out of network law, student loan protections, mortgage servicers licensing, expanding access to reproductive health care and Get Covered New Jersey. Since its inception in 2020, Get Covered New Jersey transformed New Jersey’s health insurance landscape for consumers in the individual market, ensuring that more New Jerseyans have greater access to quality, affordable health insurance. New Jersey was the first in the nation to open its marketplace with enhanced state subsidies that lower premiums for most enrollees.

Zimmerman also coordinated the Department’s COVID-19 response, working with regulated entities across all sectors to provide relief to New Jersey’s residents during the pandemic, ranging from insurance premium relief and mortgage forbearance to student loan relief and the expansion of telemedicine without cost sharing.

Commissioner Zimmerman has built an extensive career in public service. Prior to joining Governor Murphy's Administration, Zimmerman served as Chief of Policy and Legislation to the New Jersey State Senate President Pro Tempore, where he focused on expanding access to quality affordable healthcare for New Jerseyans, expansion of voting rights and civil rights. He began his career as a public servant working as a Briefing Aide to Governor Jon Corzine and Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs for the New Jersey Department of State. Prior to joining government service, he was an organizer in Morris County, New Jersey and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Zimmerman was born and raised in New Jersey, growing up in Essex and Union Counties. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Mary Washington College. 

Product Standards Committee

The Product Standards Committee (PSC) met in a regulator-only meeting on April 15. Committee members and regulators discussed expanding the qualifying events for waiver of surrender charge benefits to include financial hardship and natural disasters, beyond just physical health conditions.  The PSC is also working on standards for bonus benefits on adjustable life insurance policies to make them consistent with annuity standards. The PSC will hold a public call on May 6 to receive feedback new and amended standards for group life and group annuity items on its priority list; written comments should be submitted to comments@insurancecompact.org by close of business on Friday, May 2, 2025.

May Sessions: 

Open to All – Index-Linked Variable Annuities on Wednesday, May 7th at 1:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm CT / 11:30 am MT / 10:30 am PT / 9:30 am AKT
Click here to register

Open to All – Mix and Match on Wednesday, May 21st at 1:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm CT / 11:30 am MT / 10:30 am PT / 9:30 am AKT
Click here to register

Regulator-Focused – Long-Term Care (LTC) Rates on Thursday, May 29th at 1:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm CT / 11:30 am MT / 10:30 am PT / 9:30 am AKT
Click here to register

We are excited to announce an enhancement to our website! If you have joined any of our webinars this spring, you know the Webinar Recordings page is where you can view our informative webinars available to the public on demand.  Now, we have made it even easier for you to access our presentations - you can also download the slide decks as well! Just click on the “Download Slides” link, and you will have a PDF copy of the slide deck used in the respective webinar. We hope this enhancement will make it easier to access all the great information the Compact Office shares during its webinars. You can find the Webinar Recordings page under the Industry Resources section of the website.