Text: S05274 Text: S05276 Text: S05200 - S05299 Text: S Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Amend House File 2440, as amended, passed, and
1 2 reprinted by the House, as follows:
1 3 #1. By striking everything after the enacting
1 4 clause and inserting the following:
1 5 "Section 1. NEW SECTION. 507F.1 CONSUMER
1 6 ADVOCATE ON INSURANCE – APPOINTMENT – POLITICAL
1 7 ACTIVITY – REMOVAL.
1 8 1. The attorney general shall appoint a competent
1 9 attorney to the office of consumer advocate on
1 10 insurance. The appointment is subject to senate
1 11 confirmation in accordance with section 2.32. The
1 12 advocate's term of office is for four years. The term
1 13 begins and ends as set forth in section 69.19.
1 14 2. If a vacancy occurs in the office of consumer
1 15 advocate on insurance, the vacancy shall be filled for
1 16 the unexpired term in the same manner as an original
1 17 appointment.
1 18 3. The consumer advocate on insurance shall devote
1 19 the advocate's entire time to the duties of the
1 20 office. During the advocate's term of office the
1 21 advocate shall not be a member of a political
1 22 committee, shall not contribute to a political
1 23 campaign fund other than through the income tax
1 24 checkoff for contributions to the Iowa election
1 25 campaign fund and the presidential election campaign
1 26 fund, and shall not take part in political campaigns
1 27 or be a candidate for a political office.
1 28 4. The attorney general may remove the consumer
1 29 advocate on insurance for malfeasance or nonfeasance
1 30 in office, or for any cause which renders the advocate
1 31 ineligible for appointment, or incapable or unfit to
1 32 discharge the duties of the advocate's office. The
1 33 advocate's removal, when so made, is final.
1 34 5. The office of consumer advocate on insurance
1 35 shall be limited to regulating insurance markets in
1 36 Iowa deemed noncompetitive by the commissioner of
1 37 insurance.
1 38 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 507F.2 DUTIES.
1 39 The office of the consumer advocate on insurance
1 40 shall:
1 41 1. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A and perform
1 42 other duties necessary to the administration of this
1 43 chapter.
1 44 2. Investigate the legality of all rates, charges,
1 45 rules, regulations, and practices of all persons
1 46 within the purview of the office of the consumer
1 47 advocate on insurance, and institute civil proceedings
1 48 before the insurance division or any court to correct
1 49 any illegality on the part of any person. In any
1 50 investigation, the person acting for the office of the
2 1 consumer advocate on insurance shall have the power to
2 2 ask the commissioner of insurance to issue subpoenas,
2 3 compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and
2 4 the production of papers, books, and documents.
2 5 3. Make recommendations to the general assembly
2 6 regarding insurance regulation.
2 7 4. Make recommendations to the insurance division
2 8 or any other governmental agency which has an impact
2 9 on insurance regulation in the state through
2 10 rulemaking and review and, if the advocate deems it to
2 11 be in the public interest, appeal the rulemaking or
2 12 contested case decisions of the insurance division or
2 13 any other governmental agency which has an impact on
2 14 insurance regulation in the state.
2 15 5. Represent the interests of the public relating
2 16 to insurance reform, coverage, and rates where action
2 17 is necessary for the protection of public rights.
2 18 6. Institute judicial review of final or
2 19 interlocutory actions of the insurance division if the
2 20 review is deemed to be in the public interest.
2 21 7. Act as attorney for and represent all consumers
2 22 generally and the public generally in all proceedings
2 23 before the insurance division, federal and state
2 24 agencies, and related judicial review proceedings and
2 25 appeals.
2 26 8. Appear for all consumers generally and the
2 27 public generally in all actions instituted in any
2 28 state or federal court which involve the validity of a
2 29 rule, regulation, or order of the insurance division.
2 30 9. Appear and participate as a party in the name
2 31 of the office of consumer advocate on insurance in the
2 32 performance of the duties of the office.
2 33 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 507F.3 OFFICE – EMPLOYEES
2 34 – EXPENSES.
2 35 1. The office of the consumer advocate on
2 36 insurance shall be located within the office of the
2 37 attorney general. Administrative support services
2 38 shall be provided to the consumer advocate by the
2 39 office of the attorney general.
2 40 2. The consumer advocate on insurance may employ
2 41 attorneys, legal assistants, secretaries, clerks, and
2 42 other employees the consumer advocate on insurance
2 43 finds necessary for the full and efficient discharge
2 44 of the duties and responsibilities of the office. The
2 45 consumer advocate on insurance may employ consultants
2 46 as expert witnesses or technical advisors pursuant to
2 47 contract as the advocate finds necessary for the full
2 48 and efficient discharge of the duties of the office.
2 49 Employees of the consumer advocate on insurance, other
2 50 than the advocate, are subject to merit employment,
3 1 except as provided in section 8A.412.
3 2 3. The salary of the consumer advocate on
3 3 insurance shall be fixed by the attorney general
3 4 within the salary range set by the general assembly.
3 5 The salaries of employees of the consumer advocate on
3 6 insurance is as provided by law. The appropriation
3 7 for the office of consumer advocate on insurance shall
3 8 be separate line item contained in the appropriation
3 9 from the general fund of the state to the department
3 10 of justice.
3 11 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 507F.4 INSURANCE DIVISION
3 12 RECORDS.
3 13 The consumer advocate on insurance has free access
3 14 to all the files, records, and documents in the office
3 15 of the insurance division except:
3 16 1. Personal information in confidential personnel
3 17 records of the insurance division.
3 18 2. Records which represent and constitute the work
3 19 product of the general counsel of the insurance
3 20 division where the records relate to a proceeding
3 21 before the division in which the consumer advocate on
3 22 insurance is a party or a proceeding in any state or
3 23 federal court in which both the division and the
3 24 consumer advocate on insurance are parties.
3 25 3. Insurer information of a confidential nature
3 26 which could jeopardize an insurer's competitive status
3 27 and is provided by an insurer to the division.
3 28 However, such information shall be provided to the
3 29 consumer advocate on insurance by the insurance
3 30 division, if the division determines it to be in the
3 31 public interest.
3 32 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 507F.5 SERVICE.
3 33 The consumer advocate on insurance is entitled to
3 34 service of all documents required by statute or rule
3 35 to be served on parties in proceedings before the
3 36 insurance division and all notices, petitions,
3 37 applications, complaints, answers, motions, and other
3 38 pleadings filed pursuant to statute or rule with the
3 39 division.
3 40 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION. 507F.6 CONSUMER ADVOCATE ON
3 41 INSURANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
3 42 The attorney general shall appoint seven members to
3 43 a consumer advocate on insurance advisory committee to
3 44 meet at the request of the consumer advocate on
3 45 insurance for consultation regarding the protection of
3 46 public rights in insurance regulation. A member shall
3 47 be appointed from each congressional district with the
3 48 appointee residing within the district at the time of
3 49 the appointment. The remaining appointees shall be
3 50 members at large. Members shall be appointed which
4 1 represent the various sectors or the population and
4 2 appointments shall be made in compliance with sections
4 3 69.16 and 69.16A. The members shall serve four-year
4 4 terms and their appointments are not subject to
4 5 confirmation by the senate. A vacancy shall be filled
4 6 in the same manner as the original appointment for the
4 7 unexpired portion of the member's term. Members of
4 8 the committee shall serve without compensation, but
4 9 shall be reimbursed for actual expenses from funds
4 10 appropriated to the office of the consumer advocate on
4 11 insurance.
4 12 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION. 519A.5A RATE INCREASES –
4 13 RIGHT OF REVIEW.
4 14 1. An insurer subject to this chapter as a member
4 15 of the association shall give written notice of a
4 16 proposed increase of any rate to an affected person
4 17 sixty days prior to the time an application for a rate
4 18 increase is filed with the commissioner. The notice
4 19 to the insured shall state that the insured has a
4 20 right to file a written objection to the rate increase
4 21 and that the insured may appeal to the commissioner
4 22 within thirty days after the commissioner has approved
4 23 a rate increase.
4 24 2. After the filing of an application for an
4 25 increase of any rate by an insurer under subsection 1,
4 26 the commissioner, prior to the expiration of thirty
4 27 days after the filing date, shall docket the case as a
4 28 formal proceeding and set the case for hearing.
4 29 3. If, after the hearing, the commissioner finds
4 30 the proposed rate increase to be unlawful, the
4 31 commissioner shall by order authorize and direct the
4 32 insurer to file a new or changed rate which, when
4 33 approved by the commissioner and placed in effect,
4 34 will satisfy the requirements of this chapter and this
4 35 title.
4 36 4. An order of the commissioner made pursuant to
4 37 this section shall be subject to judicial review as
4 38 provided in chapter 17A.
4 39 5. The commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to
4 40 chapter 17A to administer this section.
4 41 Sec. 8. NEW SECTION. 519A.14 INSURANCE RATE –
4 42 ROLLBACK.
4 43 1. For any medical malpractice insurance policy
4 44 underwritten by an insurer subject to this chapter
4 45 issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2004, the
4 46 insurer shall reduce its charges to levels which are
4 47 twenty percent less than the charges for the same
4 48 coverage which were in effect on July 1, 2003.
4 49 2. This section shall not apply to an affected
4 50 insurer under this chapter who demonstrates on an
5 1 actuarially sound basis that a reduction pursuant to
5 2 subsection 1 would deny the affected insurer a fair
5 3 return.
5 4 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION. 519A.15 NOTICE OF
5 5 CANCELLATION AND NONRENEWAL – REASONS.
5 6 An insurer subject to this chapter shall not cancel
5 7 or refuse to renew a policy of medical malpractice
5 8 insurance issued individually underwritten by the
5 9 insurer except by notice to the insured. Notice of
5 10 cancellation or nonrenewal of a policy is not
5 11 effective unless it is based on one or more of the
5 12 following reasons:
5 13 1. Nonpayment of premium.
5 14 2. Fraud or misrepresentation affecting the policy
5 15 or the presentation of a claim.
5 16 3. A determination by the commissioner that a
5 17 continuation of a policy under this chapter would
5 18 substantially increase the hazard insured against."
5 19 #2. Title page, line 1, by striking the words
5 20 "noneconomic damages against" and inserting the
5 21 following: "damages against and medical malpractice
5 22 insurance policies issued to".
5 23
5 24
5 25
5 26 JOE BOLKCOM
5 27 WILLIAM A. DOTZLER
5 28 KEITH A. KREIMAN
5 29 ROBERT E. DVORSKY
5 30 JACK HOLVECK
5 31 THOMAS G. COURTNEY
5 32 AMANDA RAGAN
5 33 DARYL BEALL
5 34 MICHAEL E. GRONSTAL
5 35 HERMAN C. QUIRMBACH
5 36 HF 2440.711 80
5 37 rh/gg
Text: S05274 Text: S05276 Text: S05200 - S05299 Text: S Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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