The early and mid-1980s experienced a spate of insurance company insolvencies and near insolvencies, especially in but not limited to the property and casualty insurance industry. Concern continues over the financial condition of many insurers, including some high-profile life insurance companies. With the specter of the savings and loan crisis providing a haunting backdrop, the pressure for a substantive and direct federal regulatory involvement, as distinguished from the traditional congressional oversight role, has substantially increased. After a several year intensive investigation, the past chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee Congressman John Dingell introduced legislation which, if passed, would have created direct federal regulation for insurance company solvency. Although support for federal involvement (including some segments of the insurance industry) has significantly increased in recent years, at this writing the ultimate fate of such legislation is uncertain. Nevertheless, a summary of its provisions gives a sense of the potential nature and scope of direct federal controls which, if enacted in some form, would fundamentally alter the insurance regulatory landscape.