Text: H08187 Text: H08189 Text: H08100 - H08199 Text: H Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Amend House File 2440 as follows:
1 2 #1. By striking everything after the enacting
1 3 clause and inserting the following:
1 4 "Section 1. NEW SECTION. 507F.1 CONSUMER
1 5 ADVOCATE ON INSURANCE – APPOINTMENT – POLITICAL
1 6 ACTIVITY – REMOVAL.
1 7 1. The attorney general shall appoint a competent
1 8 attorney to the office of consumer advocate on
1 9 insurance. The appointment is subject to senate
1 10 confirmation in accordance with section 2.32. The
1 11 advocate's term of office is for four years. The term
1 12 begins and ends as set forth in section 69.19.
1 13 2. If a vacancy occurs in the office of consumer
1 14 advocate on insurance, the vacancy shall be filled for
1 15 the unexpired term in the same manner as an original
1 16 appointment.
1 17 3. The consumer advocate on insurance shall devote
1 18 the advocate's entire time to the duties of the
1 19 office. During the advocate's term of office the
1 20 advocate shall not be a member of a political
1 21 committee, shall not contribute to a political
1 22 campaign fund other than through the income tax
1 23 checkoff for contributions to the Iowa election
1 24 campaign fund and the presidential election campaign
1 25 fund, and shall not take part in political campaigns
1 26 or be a candidate for a political office.
1 27 4. The attorney general may remove the consumer
1 28 advocate on insurance for malfeasance or nonfeasance
1 29 in office, or for any cause which renders the advocate
1 30 ineligible for appointment, or incapable or unfit to
1 31 discharge the duties of the advocate's office. The
1 32 advocate's removal, when so made, is final.
1 33 5. The office of consumer advocate on insurance
1 34 shall be limited to regulating insurance markets in
1 35 Iowa deemed noncompetitive by the commissioner of
1 36 insurance.
1 37 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 507F.2 DUTIES.
1 38 The office of the consumer advocate on insurance
1 39 shall:
1 40 1. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A and perform
1 41 other duties necessary to the administration of this
1 42 chapter.
1 43 2. Investigate the legality of all rates, charges,
1 44 rules, regulations, and practices of all persons
1 45 within the purview of the office of the consumer
1 46 advocate on insurance, and institute civil proceedings
1 47 before the insurance division or any court to correct
1 48 any illegality on the part of any person. In any
1 49 investigation, the person acting for the office of the
1 50 consumer advocate on insurance shall have the power to
2 1 ask the commissioner of insurance to issue subpoenas,
2 2 compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and
2 3 the production of papers, books, and documents.
2 4 3. Make recommendations to the general assembly
2 5 regarding insurance regulation.
2 6 4. Make recommendations to the insurance division
2 7 or any other governmental agency which has an impact
2 8 on insurance regulation in the state through
2 9 rulemaking and review and, if the advocate deems it to
2 10 be in the public interest, appeal the rulemaking or
2 11 contested case decisions of the insurance division or
2 12 any other governmental agency which has an impact on
2 13 insurance regulation in the state.
2 14 5. Represent the interests of the public relating
2 15 to insurance reform, coverage, and rates where action
2 16 is necessary for the protection of public rights.
2 17 6. Institute judicial review of final or
2 18 interlocutory actions of the insurance division if the
2 19 review is deemed to be in the public interest.
2 20 7. Act as attorney for and represent all consumers
2 21 generally and the public generally in all proceedings
2 22 before the insurance division, federal and state
2 23 agencies, and related judicial review proceedings and
2 24 appeals.
2 25 8. Appear for all consumers generally and the
2 26 public generally in all actions instituted in any
2 27 state or federal court which involve the validity of a
2 28 rule, regulation, or order of the insurance division.
2 29 9. Appear and participate as a party in the name
2 30 of the office of consumer advocate on insurance in the
2 31 performance of the duties of the office.
2 32 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 507F.3 OFFICE – EMPLOYEES
2 33 – EXPENSES.
2 34 1. The office of the consumer advocate on
2 35 insurance shall be located within the office of the
2 36 attorney general. Administrative support services
2 37 shall be provided to the consumer advocate by the
2 38 office of the attorney general.
2 39 2. The consumer advocate on insurance may employ
2 40 attorneys, legal assistants, secretaries, clerks, and
2 41 other employees the consumer advocate on insurance
2 42 finds necessary for the full and efficient discharge
2 43 of the duties and responsibilities of the office. The
2 44 consumer advocate on insurance may employ consultants
2 45 as expert witnesses or technical advisors pursuant to
2 46 contract as the advocate finds necessary for the full
2 47 and efficient discharge of the duties of the office.
2 48 Employees of the consumer advocate on insurance, other
2 49 than the advocate, are subject to merit employment,
2 50 except as provided in section 19A.3.
3 1 3. The salary of the consumer advocate on
3 2 insurance shall be fixed by the attorney general
3 3 within the salary range set by the general assembly.
3 4 The salaries of employees of the consumer advocate on
3 5 insurance is as provided by law. The appropriation
3 6 for the office of consumer advocate on insurance shall
3 7 be separate line item contained in the appropriation
3 8 from the general fund of the state to the department
3 9 of justice.
3 10 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 507F.4 INSURANCE DIVISION
3 11 RECORDS.
3 12 The consumer advocate on insurance has free access
3 13 to all the files, records, and documents in the office
3 14 of the insurance division except:
3 15 1. Personal information in confidential personnel
3 16 records of the insurance division.
3 17 2. Records which represent and constitute the work
3 18 product of the general counsel of the insurance
3 19 division where the records relate to a proceeding
3 20 before the division in which the consumer advocate on
3 21 insurance is a party or a proceeding in any state of
3 22 federal court in which both the division and the
3 23 consumer advocate on insurance are parties.
3 24 3. Insurer information of a confidential nature
3 25 which could jeopardize an insurer's competitive status
3 26 and is provided by an insurer to the division.
3 27 However, such information shall be provided to the
3 28 consumer advocate on insurance by the insurance
3 29 division, if the division determines it to be in the
3 30 public interest.
3 31 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 507F.5 SERVICE.
3 32 The consumer advocate on insurance is entitled to
3 33 service of all documents required by statute or rule
3 34 to be served on parties in proceedings before the
3 35 insurance division and all notices, petitions,
3 36 applications, complaints, answers, motions, and other
3 37 pleadings filed pursuant to statute or rule with the
3 38 division.
3 39 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION. 507F.6 CONSUMER ADVOCATE ON
3 40 INSURANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
3 41 The attorney general shall appoint seven members to
3 42 a consumer advocate on insurance advisory committee to
3 43 meet at the request of the consumer advocate on
3 44 insurance for consultation regarding the protection of
3 45 public rights in insurance regulation. A member shall
3 46 be appointed from each congressional district with the
3 47 appointee residing within the district at the time of
3 48 the appointment. The remaining appointees shall be
3 49 members at large. Members shall be appointed which
3 50 represent the various sectors or the population and
4 1 appointments shall be made in compliance with sections
4 2 69.16 and 69.16A. The members shall serve four-year
4 3 terms and their appointments are not subject to
4 4 confirmation by the senate. A vacancy shall be filled
4 5 in the same manner as the original appointment for the
4 6 unexpired portion of the member's term. Members of
4 7 the committee shall serve without compensation, but
4 8 shall be reimbursed for actual expenses from funds
4 9 appropriated to the office of the consumer advocate on
4 10 insurance.
4 11 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION. 519A.5A RATE INCREASES –
4 12 RIGHT OF REVIEW.
4 13 1. An insurer subject to this chapter as a member
4 14 of the association shall not make effective a proposed
4 15 increase of any medical malpractice insurance rate
4 16 individually underwritten by the insurer until the
4 17 proposed increase has been reviewed and approved by
4 18 the commissioner.
4 19 2. An insurer under subsection 1 shall give
4 20 written notice of a proposed increase of any rate to
4 21 an affected person sixty days prior to the time the
4 22 application for the increase is filed with the
4 23 commissioner. The notice to the insured shall state
4 24 that the insured has a right to file a written
4 25 objection to the rate increase and that the insured
4 26 may appeal to the commissioner within thirty days
4 27 after the commissioner has approved a rate increase.
4 28 3. After the filing of an application for an
4 29 increase of any rate by an insurer under subsection 1,
4 30 the commissioner, prior to the expiration of thirty
4 31 days after the filing date, shall docket the case as a
4 32 formal proceeding and set the case for hearing.
4 33 4. If, after the hearing, the commissioner finds
4 34 the proposed rate increase to be unlawful, the
4 35 commissioner shall by order authorize and direct the
4 36 insurer to file a new or changed rate which, when
4 37 approved by the commissioner and placed in effect,
4 38 will satisfy the requirements of this chapter and this
4 39 title.
4 40 5. An order of the commissioner made pursuant to
4 41 this section shall be subject to judicial review as
4 42 provided in chapter 17A.
4 43 6. The commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to
4 44 chapter 17A to administer this section.
4 45 Sec. 8. NEW SECTION. 519A.14 INSURANCE RATE –
4 46 ROLLBACK.
4 47 1. For any medical malpractice insurance polity
4 48 underwritten by an insurer subject to this chapter
4 49 issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2004, the
4 50 insurer shall reduce its charges to levels which are
5 1 twenty percent less than the charges for the same
5 2 coverage which were in effect on July 1, 2003.
5 3 2. This section shall not apply to an affected
5 4 insurer under this chapter who demonstrates on an
5 5 actuarially sound basis that a reduction pursuant to
5 6 subsection 1 would deny the affected insurer a fair
5 7 return.
5 8 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION. 519A.15 NOTICE OF
5 9 CANCELLATION AND NONRENEWAL – REASONS.
5 10 An insurer subject to this chapter shall not cancel
5 11 or refuse to renew a policy of medical malpractice
5 12 insurance issued individually underwritten by the
5 13 insurer except by notice to the insured. Notice of
5 14 cancellation or nonrenewal of a policy is not
5 15 effective unless it is based on one or more of the
5 16 following reasons:
5 17 1. Nonpayment of premium.
5 18 2. Fraud or misrepresentation affecting the policy
5 19 or the presentation of a claim.
5 20 3. A determination by the commissioner that a
5 21 continuation of a policy under this chapter would
5 22 substantially increase the hazard insured against."
5 23 #2. Title page, line 1, by striking the words
5 24 "noneconomic damages against" and inserting the
5 25 following: "damages against and medical malpractice
5 26 insurance policies issued to".
5 27
5 28
5 29
5 30 JOCHUM of Dubuque
5 31 HF 2440.301 80
5 32 rh/cf
Text: H08187 Text: H08189 Text: H08100 - H08199 Text: H Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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