Florida Cabinet Finalizes Various Insurance-Related Rules at August 6 Meeting
Aug 6, 2013
The Florida Cabinet met today, August 6, 2013, during which it finalized various proposed insurance-related rules.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty presented the action items as part of the Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) agenda, the first of which were proposed amendments to Rule 69O-137.001, “Annual and Quarterly Reporting Requirements,” that would adopt the 2012 National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) Annual and Quarterly Statement Instructions Manuals.
Under Section 624.424, F.S., insurers must file annual and quarterly financial reports with the OIR, which is allowed to set standards for these reports. By adopting the current versions of the NAIC manuals, the OIR is establishing up-to-date, uniform standards for those annual and quarterly reports for evaluation of insurers’ financial conditions. This Rule was adopted with no objection or comment from Cabinet members.
Also finalized was proposed Rule 69O-138.001, which adopts the 2013 NAIC Financial Condition Examiners’ Handbook, a publication that contains current Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures for insurer financial condition exams.
A proposed amendment to Rule 69O-149.022 adopting the “Notice of Estimated Premium Impacts from the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)” (“Notice”) was also approved by the Cabinet today. Under CS/SB 1842, which amended Section 627.410, F.S., the Notice will be sent to all individual and small group nongrandfathered health plans or health maintenance organizations and must illustrate the estimated impact of the PPACA on monthly premiums. The Notice will be required one time, when the policy is issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2014.
The Notice must also be submitted to the OIR for informational purposes by September 1, 2013. The OIR, in consultation with the Florida Department of Financial Services (“DFS”), shall develop a summary of the estimated impact of the PPACA on monthly premiums as contained in the Notices. The summary must be available on the OIR and DFS Web sites by October 1, 2013. The Notice is also required to be included in the insurer’s rate filing for the policy, which is not subject to approval by the OIR.
Cabinet members also approved proposed Rule 69O-149.003, “Rate Filing Procedures,” amendments to which delete the maximum annual medical trend tables for Major Medical and Medicare Supplement policies from the text of the Rule and add a link to the OIR’s Web site where the tables will be updated. Companies with 1,000 or fewer policies in Florida have the option to submit a streamlined annual rate filing by utilizing the medical trend.
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