SIIA State Legislative/Regulatory Update Report

On October 21, 2014
October 21, 2014 — This is your weekly update of state legislative/regulatory developments affecting companies involved in the self-insurance/alternative risk transfer marketplace. Should you have any questions on information provided in these reports and/or would like to alert SIIA to new state legislative/regulatory activity (health care, workers’ compensation and/or captive insurance matters) we may have missed, please contact Adam Brackemyre, Director of State Government Relations directly at 202/463-8161, or via e-mail at abrackemyre@siia.org.


Colorado- Exchange Assessment Regulations Published
At long last, the Colorado Division of Insurance has published draft regulations addressing outstanding questions about the Colorado exchange’s assessment. The regulations can be viewed here. The link should open the rules in a Word document.

A hearing on the proposed rules has been schedule on November 5th. SIIA will be reviewing the proposed rules to see if it needs to submit comments or questions by this date.

If you have any questions or would like the proposed rule emailed to you, please contact Adam Brackemyre, SIIA’s Director of State Government Relations at abrackemyre@siia.org.

DC- Stop-Loss Legislation
On Friday, October 10th, the Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (BCRA) Committee passed the DC stop loss language contained in B20-0797 to the full DC Council without any changes.

As previously reported, SIIA and other stakeholders testified at a public hearing and met with Department of Insurance Securities and Banking (DISB) staff responsible for writing the legislation and submitted amended language and justifications for those amendments, per DISB staff request. SIIA also worked with other industry lobbyists to request that members of the BCRA committee introduce the amendments, too.

There are still opportunities to seek amendments from the full DC Council. SIIA will continue to work with stakeholders to improve the legislation, which contains a minimum $40,000 individual attachment point and effective prohibition on employers of 50 and fewer from purchasing stop loss.

Illinois- Legislation Repealing Captive Tax Increase Introduced
Since the last SIIA state update, House Bill (HB) 6302, legislation repealing the recent Illinois captive tax increase, has been introduced.

There are two short legislative periods between now and the end of the year and nobody really knows how much will be accomplished because, as one Illinois insider told SIIA, legislative matters are taking a back seat to the close gubernatorial race.

Viewing this realistically, the best chance of repealing the tax will rest with a new legislature and new governor. There are two major barriers for HB 6302 in the lame duck period. First, the legislation is co-sponsored by members of the minority political party. Second, if HB 6302 were to be passed during the lame duck session, the governor would probably veto it, as he recently referred to the tax increase as “closing a loophole” during a recent debate.

In the meantime, SIIA will continue to work with the business community, support the repeal efforts and prepare to work with elected leaders next year who may be more favorable to the business community.

New York State- Advocacy Day in Albany
SIIA has tentatively planned an advocacy day in Albany next February in support of legislation that would protect small business access to stop loss insurance.

While SIIA has professional lobbyist resources in place, we need SIIA members who are New York State residents and business owners to attend. You are the best messenger to discuss how your clients, the legislators’ constituents, would be impacted if businesses with 51-100 covered lives would lose access their current health plan. If you could take one day to travel to Albany and educate legislators, it would be an invaluable service to your clients and your industry.

More information will be coming as the event details are finalized.