May 19, 2013

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Judith LaBuda Appointed as District Court Judge in Twentieth Judicial District

May 21, 2012 by 1 Comment

On Friday, May 18, 2012, Governor John Hickenlooper announced his appointment of Judith LaBuda to serve as a district court judge in the Twentieth Judicial District, which serves Boulder County. LaBuda will fill a vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable James C. Klein on June 30.

LaBuda, of Niwot, currently serves as the Senior Assistant Attorney General at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, where she is general counsel to the Division of Insurance, Commissioner of Insurance, and the State Personnel Board. Previously, LaBuda spent 18 years practicing family law.

LaBuda earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her law degree from the University of Colorado Law School.

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HB 12-1266: Continuation of Regulation of Bail Bond Providers; Division of Insurance to Regulate

March 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

On February 7, 2012, Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg and Sen. John Morse introduced HB 12-1266 – Concerning the Continuation of the Licensing of Persons who Furnish Bail for Compensation. This summary is published here courtesy of the Colorado Bar Association’s e-Legislative Report.

Sunset Review Process

The bill continues the regulation of bail bonding agents until September 1, 2017. The daily bond register requirement is replaced with a requirement that the information be kept in a case file and clarifies that the requirement applies to cash bonding agents and professional cash bail agents. A prohibition against licensing firms is repealed. Bail-related transactions are required to be made on forms approved by the division of insurance. On February 28 the Judiciary Committee amended the bill and referred it to the Appropriations Committee for consideration of the fiscal impact. The bill is not listed on the Appropriations Committee calendar.

Summaries of other featured bills can be found here.

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SB 12-110: Fees for Insurers; Insurance Fraud Cash Fund Moved to Department of Law

March 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

On January 31, 2012, Sen. Pat Steadman and Rep. Claire Levy introduced SB 12-110 – Concerning a Fund Consisting of Surcharges on Insurance Premiums to Pay for Costs Associated with Criminal Prosecutions of Insurance Fraud Investigations, and, In Connection Therewith, Making an Appropriation. This summary is published here courtesy of the Colorado Bar Association’s e-Legislative Report.

Joint Budget Committee Bill

The commissioner of insurance is required to establish a tiered fee schedule based upon the prior year’s direct written premiums, gross contract funds, or charges received in Colorado by each regulated insurance entity. The fees are transmitted to the insurance fraud cash fund to pay for insurance fraud investigations and prosecutions by the attorney general’s office. Currently the fee is set at $561 for each entity. The tiered fee schedule is set to approximate the direct and indirect costs of the investigations and prosecutions of insurance fraud. The bill allows the Department of Law to give the same attention to all workers’ compensation companies, including Pinnacol Assurance. The insurance fraud cash fund is moved from the Division of Insurance in the Department of Regulatory Agencies to the Department of Law.

The bill appropriates moneys to the Department of Law. On February 14, the bill cleared the Senate; on February 15 the bill was assigned to the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees.

Summaries of other featured bills can be found here.

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HB 12-1057: Increased Protections for Homeowner’s Insurance Policy Holders

February 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

On January 11, 2012, Rep. Claire Levy and Sen. Jeanne Nicholson introduced HB 12-1057 – Concerning Additional Protections for Purchasers of Homeowner’s Insurance Policies in Colorado. This summary is published here courtesy of the Colorado Bar Association’s e-Legislative Report.

The bill requires the insurance commissioner to adopt rules on the following related to the sale of homeowner’s insurance in Colorado:

  • Criteria and requirements for estimates of replacement value of insured property; and
  • An educational requirement for insurance producers related to homeowner’s insurance, including estimating replacement value.

The bill also puts into place the following with respect to homeowner’s insurance policies in this state:

  • Minimum requirements for additional living expense coverage for a period of time of no less than 24 months after a loss requiring additional living arrangements;
  • Requirements that insurers make available to policyholders copies of homeowner’s insurance policies, including declaration pages, within 48 hours after a loss or a request;
  • Standards for paying contents loss claims in the event of total loss;
  • Additional arbitration requirements for disputes between insured homeowners and insurers relating to policy coverage;
  • A requirement to provide summary disclosure forms to homeowner’s insurance policyholders at least annually; and
  • Potential disciplinary action by the commissioner against insurance producers that fail to:
    • Accurately describe to an insured the relationship of the producer to an insurer as the representative of the insurer and not a representative of, or advocate for, the insured policyholder; or
    • Accurately represent the adequacy of policy limits in a homeowner’s insurance policy to cover total loss of the property.

Assigned to the Local Government State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committees.

Since this summary, the bill was postponed indefinitely by the Local Government Committee.

Summaries of other featured bills can be found here.

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Division of Insurance Proposes New Rule Regarding Contraception Coverage

September 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The DORA Division of Insurance has proposed a new rule to require contraception benefits in insurance policies. The purpose of this regulation is to implement Colorado insurance law and ensure that carriers are providing coverage for contraception in policies in the same manner as any other sickness, injury, disease, or condition is otherwise covered under the policy or contract.

The requirements and provisions of this new regulation apply to all group sickness and accident insurance policies and health service contracts issued to an employer and all individual sickness and accident, health care, or indemnity contracts; it does not apply to supplemental policies covering a specified disease or other limited benefits.

A hearing on the new rule will be held on Monday, October 3, 2011 at 1560 Broadway, Suite 850, Denver, Colorado 80202, beginning at 11:00 am.

Full text of the proposed rule can be found here. Further information about the rule and hearing can be found here.

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Division of Insurance Proposes New Regulation Concerning Prescreening Questionnaires for Individual Health Benefit Plans

July 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The DORA Division of Insurance has proposed a new regulation concerning prescreening questionnaires. The purpose of the new regulation is to implement a prescreening questionnaire for use by carriers marketing and issuing individual health benefit plans.

Child-only policies are guaranteed issued pursuant to state and federal law. Therefore, this questionnaire will not be used in connection with the issuance of child-only policies.

A hearing on the new proposed regulation will be held on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 1560 Broadway, Suite 850, Denver, Colorado 80202, beginning at 1:00 pm.

Full text of the proposed regulation can be found here. Further information about the new regulation and hearing can be found here.

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Division of Insurance Proposes New Regulation Concerning Explanation of Benefits

July 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The DORA Division of Insurance has proposed a new regulation concerning what information carriers must provide on Explanation of Benefits forms. The purpose of the regulation is to set forth the required information for health carriers to provide on the form sent to covered persons or providers.

The new regulation does not apply to Medicare Supplement or disability income insurance.

A hearing on the new proposed regulation will be held on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 1560 Broadway, Suite 850, Denver, Colorado 80202, beginning at 1:00 pm.

Full text of the proposed regulation can be found here. Further information about the new regulation and hearing can be found here.

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Division of Insurance Amends Regulations Concerning Small Employer Group Health Benefit Plans

July 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The DORA Division of Insurance has drafted proposed changes to the basic and standard health benefit plans required to be offered to small employer groups and that are used for the purpose of conversion from group coverage. Additionally, other changes have been incorporated that are necessary for compliance with Colorado law.

The revised regulations specify the requirements for the basic and standard health benefit plans as well as other requirements for small employer carriers.

A hearing on the amended regulations will be held on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 1560 Broadway, Suite 850, Denver, Colorado 80202, beginning at 1:00 pm.

Full text of the proposed changes with red line edits to the regulations can be found here. Further information about the regulations and hearing can be found here.

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ALJ Fines Insurance Agent $1.245 Million for Violating Colorado Insurance Law

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

At the end of last month, an administrative law judge at the Colorado Office of Administrative Courts fined Salies “Kwann” Perry $1.245 million for violating Colorado insurance law, including committing unfair trade practices and fraud. According to DORA, the fine is believed to be one of the largest in state history ever handed down to an insurance agent (known as producers under state law).

The case dates back to early 2010, when Bankers Life and Casualty Company notified the Colorado Division of Insurance that Perry had submitted approximately fifty fraudulent applications for life insurance in 2009 and 2010. Those fraudulent applications included false Social Security numbers, addresses, and bank account numbers and were submitted in order to receive advanced commissions from Bankers Life.

The Division of Insurance’s Compliance and Investigations Section performed an investigation in which it also discovered that Perry failed to disclose his criminal background in his application for a Colorado insurance producer license. Perry’s license was summarily suspended in November, concurrent with the notice of charges filed with the Office of Administrative Courts. In his June 24 decision, Judge Robert Spencer permanently revoked Perry’s license and ruled that Perry had committed 415 violations of the state’s insurance laws.

Perry’s whereabouts are unknown; his last known address was in Thornton. Perry did not file an answer to the charges.

Click here to read the full press release from DORA regarding the decision.

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Governor Hickenlooper Names New Insurance Commissioner

June 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On Monday, June 27, 2011, Governor John Hickenlooper announced that Rep. Jim Riesberg will become the state’s new Commissioner of Insurance. He will resign his seat in the House on June 30 and begin at the Colorado Division of Insurance on July 1.

Riesberg will replace John J. Postolowski, who was appointed as interim insurance commissioner on December 1, 2010. Postolowski will resume his former deputy position once Riesberg takes over.

Riesberg was first elected in 2004 to represent House District 50 (Greeley, Garden City, and Evans) in the Colorado General Assembly. He is currently ranking member of the Health and Environment Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Riesberg is a Colorado native and has worked for many years at various insurance and human resource companies. He also spent several years in leadership roles with nonprofit organizations specializing in aging, hunger, and housing issues.

The full press release from the Governor’s Office concerning the appointment can be found here.

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DORA Issues Emergency Regulation Prompted by New Child-Only Health Plans Law

May 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As reported last week, Governor John Hickenlooper signed SB 11-128, which expands the amount child-only health insurance policies provided in Colorado.

Federal Healthcare Reform requires “insurers writing child-only policies to issue them without regard to the child’s health status or condition. As a result of this requirement, only two carriers in Colorado, Kaiser-Permanente and Rocky Mountain Health Plans, have been issuing child-only policies since fall of 2010.” The new Colorado law requires all insurance carriers selling individual health benefit plans in the state to provide at least one child-only health benefit plan for children.

As a result of the new law, DORA’s Division of Insurance has issued an Emergency Regulation, E-11-03: Mandatory Open Enrollment Periods for Carriers Issuing Child-Only Plans.

This year, the open enrollment period for child-only polices will begin August 1 and end August 31. The open enrollment periods for child-only policies in future years will occur in the months of January and July. Coverage obtained during an open enrollment period becomes effective thirty days after the end of the open enrollment period.

A child-only health policy means there is no adult on the individual policy. There can be many scenarios for this type of policy: the parents may be insured through an employer-sponsored plan which does not offer dependent coverage; or the family may not be able to afford coverage for all members, and is seeking coverage for the children only. Life events such as divorce or job loss may also affect insurance coverage.

Children who lose coverage due to a qualifying event can obtain child-only coverage by applying within 30 days of the event. Outside of a qualifying event, a child-only policy can be applied for only during an open enrollment period. Qualifying events include birth, adoption, marriage, dissolution of marriage, loss of employer-sponsored coverage, loss of Medicaid or Children’s Basic Health Plan coverage, entry of a court or administrative order mandating coverage, etc.

The Emergency Regulation can be found here.

For more information about child-only health policies, visit DORA’s information website.

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HB 11-1306: Consolidating the Sunset Review and Repeal of All Functions of DORA’s Division of Insurance

May 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On April 27, 2011, Rep. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, and Sen. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, introduced HB 11-1306 – Concerning the schedule for sunset review of the functions of the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies. This summary is published here courtesy of the Colorado Bar Association’s e-Legislative Report.

Under current law, all functions of the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies, other than those functions related to the licensing of bail bonding agents, are subject to sunset review and repeal on July 1, 2017. The division’s functions related to licensing bail bonding agents are scheduled to sunset on July 1, 2012.

The bill consolidates the sunset review and repeal of all functions of the division, including those functions related to the licensing of bail bonding agents, on July 1, 2017. On April 28, the Economic and Business Development Committee referred the unamended bill to the full House for Consideration on 2nd Reading.

Summaries of other featured bills can be found here.

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