Up Front: REALITY CHECK

IN REALITY

IN REALITY, the gag rule is too loose to work. The NAIC, which imposed it to please insurers with less-than-stellar ratings, saw that recently. State Mutual Life Assurance exploited a loophole when a research firm published incorrect RBC data for it. State Mutual issued a news release with the right figure. Also, publicly traded insurers likely must disclose RBC numbers in Securities & Exchange Commission filings. And the NAIC can't stop the media from publishing data. Used in conjunction with other ratings, RBC is helpful to consumers.EDITED BY LARRY LIGHT AND JULIE TILSNER Chris Roush