In an effort to streamline processes and implement uniform transactions for both licensees and consumers, the Massachusetts Division of Insurance recently announced it has entered into the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Continuing Education Reciprocity (CER) Agreement.

The CER was launched in 1998 to simplify continuing education (CE) course approval filings for regulators and CE providers. The concept is that one member state will accept the CE credit award given to a course by another member state. With Massachusetts entering into the agreement the only remaining state that does not participate is Florida (Guam, American Samoa, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico also do not participate.) The agreement does not require any state to accept CE filings that are not otherwise approvable. For example, if a state does not award CE credit for a topic such as sales and marketing, that state is not required to give credits to that portion of a course that includes the prohibited topic.

“I think this is great news for advisors in Massachusetts as we were one of only two states that did not participate in the Agreement,” said NAIFA-MA President Joshua O’Gara. “We are increasingly living and working in a virtual world, so reciprocity between states on these matters is becoming ever more important. Kudos to the DOI and Commissioner Anderson for recognizing that, this is something they have been working on for a long time.”

O’Gara added that Commissioner Gary Anderson reached out to NAIFA-MA to personally inform them of the adoption of the CER agreement.