Around the PIA Western Alliance States - Week of February 3, 2025

California — Commissioner Lara advises wildfire survivors of County debris removal program: As Los Angeles County announced the start of cleanup from the recent devastating wildfires, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara informed wildfire survivors that the program will not impose out-of-pocket costs on policyholders over and above any insurance proceeds provided to the property owner for debris removal.. The California Department of Insurance worked closely with local, state, and federal leaders to ensure that the program’s costs are not deducted from a policyholder’s primary insurance benefits needed to rebuild. Commissioner Lara has issued a Consumer Alert and Notice detailing how the program will interact with insurance — a benefit available to all eligible property owners who choose to participate in the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires Debris Removal Program.

“My goal is to help people maximize their insurance payouts to assist survivors in rebuilding and recovering quickly. If the debris removal program is genuinely available at no direct cost to all Los Angeles County residents, it should not affect their insurance claims and their ability to rebuild,” said Commissioner Lara. “Take the time to learn about this important benefit before deciding to go it alone, or call my Department to speak with experts who can answer your questions.”

The County’s debris removal program requests that property owners sign a “Right of Entry Form” to begin the process. According to the Department’s Consumer Alert, “If you agree to participate in the Program and sign the County’s Right of Entry (ROE) form, under most circumstances, you should not have any out-of-pocket costs over and above any insurance proceeds provided by your insurance company for debris removal.”

Property owners who decide not to use the County’s debris removal program could still use their insurance to cover the cost of private debris removal, but those costs could be deducted from the total coverage limits available in their policy — leaving survivors with less money to rebuild. In recent wildfires, the average cost of debris removal was more than $100,000 per property for those who did not utilize the free program.

Commissioner Lara has taken a series of actions to speed the recovery process for consumers. Last week, he issued a Bulletin to all California insurance companies requiring that insurance companies issue advance payments to policyholders who suffered a total loss in the Southern California wildfire emergency. Many people have already received these upfront payments for personal contents and additional living expenses, with some companies paying more than the law requires.

The Department’s insurance experts have given one-on-one assistance to nearly 3,500 individuals — 2,300 through in-person workshops that the Department hosted in Santa Monica and Pasadena and at disaster recovery centers, and 1,200 through the Department’s 800-927-4357 hotline. The Department has extended its hotline hours to Monday through Friday, 9AM to 7PM, and Saturday and Sunday, 9AM to 1PM.

The Department also issued a guide to avoid scams after a disaster as there are often unscrupulous individuals who try and take advantage of disaster survivors who can be vulnerable during these challenging times. Consumers who have questions on their insurance or wish to file a complaint against a public adjuster, insurance company, or contractor can do so on the Department’s website or by calling 800-927-4357.

Source link: California Department of Insurance — https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2025/release012-2025.cfm

Idaho — DOI 2025 Legislative Agenda: HB 71 — Improvements to the Legislative Holding Act: Purpose is to protect Idahoans from insolvencies of insurers owned by a holding company, especially foreign-owned.

Group Capital and Liquidity Stress Testing are universally recognized standards. These put Idaho on the same playing field as other States and Nations, allowing our insurers and agents to transact the same as their peers, and for Idaho’s authority to be reciprocated.

Required for Idaho to continue to be accredited. Accreditation helps reduce the regulatory overhead of Idaho-domiciled insurance companies and Idaho insurance agents. It helps us retain insurers and their jobs in Idaho. If Idaho were not accredited, other states may enforce their laws and standards on Idaho insurers and agents.

Many reinsurers and large insurers (including Farmers Insurance Company of Idaho) have foreign holdings or activities. Without these improvements, they may exit Idaho’s marketplace because of inadequate standards. Adding these may help us attract more insurers and reinsurers to Idaho, as most states have passed these improvements.

We do not know of any opposition. Industry supports.

HB 17  — Wildfire Risk Mitigation Pool and Stabilization Act: The purpose is two-fold:

To create a pool that will help Idahoans harden their homes against wildfires.

To improve access to affordable homeowners’ coverage. Similar approaches have been successful in other states, especially the Southeast, guarding against hurricanes. The bill has several funding sources designed to avoid negative impact on the general fund. Like our health insurance high-risk pool, the bill establishes a board to explore additional options to stabilize the market. We are not aware of opposition. Industry supports the mitigation pool and is neutral on other potential future approaches, which have not yet been developed.

RS31816 - Data Security Act: With the ever-increasing threat of data breaches and personal information being gathered, the bill establishes insurance-industry standards for reporting breaches and standards for the protection of personal information.

The bill is designed to protect Idahoans while not being a burden on the industry.

The proposal only impacts insurance companies and agencies with more than 50 employees.

National breaches, such as the Change Healthcare breach, will be reported more quickly to protect Idaho citizens from further harm.

Unaware of any opposition. Industry supports or is neutral.

HB 72 — Risk Mitigation Devices

Modifies the statute to make it clear that providing risk mitigation devices like fitness trackers or water/leak detection devices, for free or at reduced cost with the purchase of insurance products would NOT be a violation of the insurance Unfair Trade Practices Act.

Unaware of any opposition. Industry supports.

RS31818 — Repeal of the Small Employer Reinsurance Program: Since the passage of the ACA, strategies for small employer-sponsored coverage have shifted and this program is no longer used or needed. The program’s statutes require an annual assessment on insurers to pay for an audit of the previous year’s assessment.

The repeal will reduce costs to the insurers and eliminate unnecessary expense and work.

Unaware of any opposition. Industry supports.

Link to Department of Insurance legislative agenda: https://bit.ly/42BPHJw

Oregon — The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation recently announced the following proposed rulemaking: Filing Caption: Prescription Drug Price Transparency program updates

Rules Proposed: 836-200-0500, 836-200-0505, 836-200-0510, 836-200-0515, 836-200-0520, 836-200-0525, 836-200-0530, 836-200-0531, 836-200-0532, 836-200-0535, 836-200-0540, 836-200-0545, 836-200-0550, 836-200-0555, 836-200-0560

Rules Summary: The proposed changes to the rules include:

•Clarifying existing definitions of key terms including “new prescription drug,” “one-month supply,” and “reporting manufacturer;"

•Correction of internal references;

•Changing annual price increase reporting from mandatory to voluntary per a recent court judgment;

•Specifying requirements of a designated contact person for a reporting manufacturer;

•Updating the threshold for reporting new prescription drugs;

•Adding clarification about the reported data elements for new prescription drugs;

•Adding automatic approval of appropriately submitted requests for additional time; and,

•Removing rules no longer necessary for program implementation

Filed: January 27, 2025

Hearing Date/Time: February 24, 2025, 11:00 AM, Pacific Time

This is a hybrid meeting conducted in-person and virtually via Microsoft Teams. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Teams meeting instructions.

Last day/time to offer comment: March 3, 2025, 5:00 PM 

Washington — Balance Billing Protection Act dispute resolution mechanism Request for Information: The OIC has released three previous requests for information (RFI) related to the Balance Billing Protection Act (BBPA) dispute resolution mechanism. OIC solicited comments as to whether under the authority provided in RCW 48.49.040, Washington state should transition to the federal No Surprises Act Independent Dispute Resolution (NSA IDR) process or continue to use the BBPA arbitration system to resolve disputes between nonparticipating providers and carriers or self-funded group health plans that have elected to participate in the BBPA.

Based on comments received on the most recent RFI issued in February 2024, the OIC announced it would be delaying the transition to the NSA IDR system for a minimum of 12 months, or July 1, 2025.

We are now releasing a fourth RFI related to the Balance Billing Protection Act dispute resolution mechanism Request for Information and are soliciting comments as to whether Washington state should transition to the federal NSA IDR system on July 1, 2025, or continue to use the BBPA arbitration system to resolve disputes between nonparticipating providers and carriers or self-funded group health plans that have elected to participate in the BBPA.

For more information on this RFI or the BBPA please visit our webpage on arbitration.

Comments on this RFI are due on February 18, 2025, and should be sent to policy@oic.wa.gov. OIC will provide an update on this issue on or before March 1, 2025.