Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, insurance. Porchelli, Miles, go. Uh, insurance.
• Insurance Insurance is<00:31:06.880><c> not.
• Don't use the word insurance through being self-insured, but they contract with insurance carriers to
• City of Manchester self-insures<00:55:33.599><c> their</c> self-insures their self-insures their employees
• </c> day the insurance companies. No, no, no. day the insurance companies.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee took up several insurance-related bills. Senate Bill 47, concerning health insurance policies related to the birth of the mother, was moved ought to pass with no amendments and was approved on a 6-0 vote. Senate Bill 121, dealing with Medicare Advantage plan notice requirements, was amended to reduce the required notice from 120 days to 90 days and to remove a federal citation; the department said the change was to avoid conflict with federal notice rules. After discussion about the stress caused when carriers leave the Medicare Advantage market, the committee voted ought to pass as amended, 7-0. The committee then heard a detailed explanation of the continuing care retirement communities bill, described by the Insurance Department as a rewrite of a 1989 law to modernize oversight, require quarterly financial reporting as an early warning system, create a bill of rights for residents, and clarify issues such as entrance fees and removal of dangerous residents. A member recalled the bill’s original purpose as protecting solvency because residents pay substantial upfront fees. The bill was moved ought to pass and approved unanimously, 7-0. The final major discussion concerned a pooled risk organizations bill. Members debated whether oversight should remain with the Secretary of State or be moved to the Insurance Department. Supporters of moving it argued the issue is solvency, citing concerns about reserve levels, prior insolvencies, and the Insurance Department’s expertise. Opponents said the Secretary of State’s office had historically overseen the entities and that the bill would fundamentally change how they operate. A straw vote favored an amendment, but the committee ultimately voted to retain the bill for further work, with plans to revisit it later in the session.

Transcript Highlights:

• or whether he was talking about health insurance companies buying insurance so that they can insure the
• insurance to backstop against the insurance for those individual consumers.
• taxes on insurers also drives up<00:38:16.359><c> insurance</c><00:38:16.839><c> rates</c> up insurance
• taxes on insurance drives up insurance taxes on insurance drives up insurance rates<00:38:26.760><c>
• </c> inflate everyone else's insurance inflate everyone else's insurance insurance<01:07:39.680><c> premium

Bills: HF837

Keywords: health insurance, premium security plan, federal funding, state innovation waiver, Minnesota, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• I am always worried about, one, are people proving that their vehicles are insured, that they're insured
• level insurance policy, they attach.
• the additional insured?
• the additional insured?
• And if we don't have proper insurance, then the only result is going to be that either health insurance

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I had an insurance agent who was a life insurance agent. Their life insurance premium went down.
• , a life insurer must prove intent to deceive by the insured during the... ...the Texas Insurance Code
• , a life insurer must prove intent to deceive by the insured during the... ...the Texas Insurance Code
• for insurance.
• insurance.

Bills: HB 106, HB144, HB145, HB252, HB1732, HB2221, HB2467, HB2468, HB2517, HB2518, HB2963, HB3016, HB3689, HB3960, HB4386, HB4490, HB4751, HB5247, HJR175, HB2213

Keywords: HB 106, oil and gas, Railroad Commission of Texas, overhead electrical lines, electrical distribution system, power line maintenance, administrative penalty, Natural Resources Code, oil and gas lease, well operator, energy safety, utility infrastructure, regulatory compliance, cleanup fund, oil and gas regulation and cleanup fund, production safety, leasehold operations, electric utility, distribution poles, inspection

Summary: The committee first handled pending business, including reconsidering SB 715 and then voting out several measures. The committee substitute for SB 1978 was reported favorably, and HB 431, HB 1522, HB 1922, HB 3228, HB 3229, HB 3803, HB 3804, HB 3805, HB 3806, HB 4219, HB 4238, HB 434, HB 1584, and HB 4739 were all reported favorably, many with objections sent to the local and uncontested calendar. HB 1522 and HB 4238 were adopted as committee substitutes before passage. The committee then moved into public testimony on HB 2963, a right-to-repair bill for consumer electronics. Supporters argued it would reduce waste, lower costs, and help independent repair shops by requiring manufacturers to provide parts, tools, and information on fair terms, while opponents said the bill was too broad and the automotive MOU exemption was problematic. The bill was left pending after testimony. The committee also heard HB 2467, which would align State Fire Marshal Office investigators’ pay with other commissioned peace officers at TDI; testimony was strongly supportive, emphasizing the office’s arson-investigation role, and the bill was left pending. HB 252, a bill allowing certain state agencies flexibility to pay Schedule A employees twice monthly, was laid out and left pending after limited testimony. HB 2468, dealing with public improvement district notice in real estate transactions, would let buyers terminate within seven days if required PID notice was not provided before contract execution; it drew no public testimony and was left pending. HB 4386, an annuity exchange and surrender process bill, was presented as a consumer-protection measure with deadlines and penalties for insurer delays; it received support from industry witnesses and was left pending. The committee then heard HB 4751, creating the Texas Quantum Initiative within the Governor’s Office to coordinate quantum research, workforce, industry partnerships, and possible future grant funding. Witnesses from universities and industry supported the bill, while several senators questioned whether a new state structure was necessary; the bill was left pending. HJR 175 proposed a constitutional amendment protecting Texans’ right to use mutually agreed forms of exchange, including cash, bullion, digital currency, or private script, and was discussed at length in the context of central bank digital currency and barter; it was left pending after testimony. HB 2221, updating insurance anti-rebating laws to allow wellness and value-added services, drew supportive testimony from the insurance industry and discussion about incentives versus monitoring; it was also left pending. Finally, the committee heard a series of utility wildfire and infrastructure bills: HB 106, requiring oil and gas operators to maintain certain electrical infrastructure near well sites; HB 144, requiring electric utilities to submit pole inspection and management plans to the PUC; and HB 145, requiring wildfire mitigation plans and allowing self-insurance under certain conditions. Utility, insurance, and cooperative witnesses generally supported the wildfire-related bills while asking for clarifications and less burdensome reporting, and the bills were left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• When I do polling on windstorm insurance...
• I represent the Texas Coalition for Affordable Insurance Solutions. Insurance solutions.
• Any insurer may provide personalized property and casualty insurance that creates economies of scale
• We're an insurance distribution firm delivering tailored insurance solutions as individuals together.
• The insured is our client, and the insurance carrier is our trading partner.

Bills: HB778, HB 1266, HB1576, HB2213, HB2517, HB2518, HB2841, HB3306, HB3320, HB3388, HB3508, HB3520, HB3689

Keywords: credentialing, healthcare, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, managed care, hurricane, windstorm, loss mitigation, grants, insurance discounts, property retrofitting, insurance, Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, board composition, coastal counties, property insurance, taxation, Texas FAIR Plan Association, premium taxes, maintenance taxes

Transcript Highlights:

• HMO or the panel on that insurance company.
• For over a hundred years, the Texas Insurance Code has included anti-rebating laws which prohibit insurance
• directly with life insurance, retirement products, and various health insurance products offered in
• We're going to shift from health insurance to a very niche industry of prescribed burning insurance.
• Their impediment to entry is a lack of insurance.

Bills: HB139, HB1818, HB1942, HB1959, HB2221, HB2254, HB2563, HB2067, HB2275, HB3211, HB139

Keywords: HB 1818, Texas Insurance Code, Texas Department of Insurance, commissioner of insurance, health maintenance organization, HMO, insurer, utilization review, preauthorization, prior authorization, medical necessity review, health care services, medical care, insurance regulation, insurance examination, regulatory oversight, confidential records, public information exception, Chapter 843, Chapter 1301

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:08:00.960><c> premiums</c> with homeowners insurance premiums with homeowners insurance premiums
• <00:09:46.399><c> in</c> insurance in insurance in Minnesota<00:09:48.320><c> many</c><00:09:48.600><
• </c><00:10:15.000><c> companies</c> new roof by their insurance companies new roof by their insurance
• </c> conversations about dental insurance conversations about dental insurance mostly<00:25:05.840><c
• </c><01:36:51.280><c> insurance</c> affordable auto insurance insurance affordable auto insurance insurance

Bills: HF2228, HF46, HF856, HF2149, HF2215

Keywords: homeowners insurance, property insurance, commercial property insurance, insurance affordability, insurance market stabilization, reinsurance, catastrophic reinsurance fund, self-insured pool, premium costs, coverage notice, liability reform, climate risk, climate change, housing affordability, multifamily housing, rental housing, common interest communities, cooperatives, small business insurance, Minnesota Commerce Department

Transcript Highlights:

• You've exhausted the insurance.
• It is not mandated, like car insurance, for somebody to have insurance.
• a legal mandate to force people to buy insurance. mandate to force people to buy insurance.
• more expensive insurance.
• buying insurance you don't need.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:14:56.320><c> fire</c><00:14:56.720><c> insurance</c> basic property insurance fire insurance
• insurance.
• insurance.
• insurance.
• </c> the insurance um you know the insurance the insurance um you know the insurance division<01:02:39.440

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• If you go to ERS and look at our health insurance... Well, that's health insurance.
• , auto insurance.
• You pay less for insurance.
• But once insurance engages, they're hoping that insurance is going to settle.
• to your insurance?

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> licensed insurance educator. licensed insurance educator.
• </c> insurance policy or commercial insurance insurance policy or commercial insurance policy.<00:42:
• </c> the insurance industry in 2023. the insurance industry in 2023.
• Insurance issues.
• </c> have insurance. have insurance.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• And insurance on the same side.
• And this, uh, insurance, uh, the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety, IBHS is a scientific
• Any insurer may provide personalized property and casualty insurance provided that the insurance of the
• We're an insurance distribution firm delivering tailored insurance and advisory solutions to businesses
• The insured is our client. And the insurance carrier is our trading partner.

Transcript Highlights:

• We are Florida's residual insurer, or insurer of last resort.
• So, goes to, you know, they can't get insured, somebody can't get insured with their car by Allstate,
• So that's where a residual insurer or insurer of last resort steps in.
• We are a residual insurer or insurer of last resort steps in.
• Eligibility. a residual insurer or insurer of last resort steps in.

Summary: The Insurance and Banking Subcommittee received a lengthy presentation from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation CEO Tim Serio, with Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworski also answering questions. Serio reviewed Citizens’ role as Florida’s insurer of last resort, its statutory funding structure, eligibility rules, depopulation program, reinsurance obligations, and the surcharge/emergency assessment mechanisms that can be used if Citizens runs a deficit. He emphasized that recent legislative reforms, combined with lower litigation and improved market conditions, have helped the private market recover and reduced Citizens’ policy count from a peak of about 1.41 million in 2023 to 936,182 at the end of 2024, with a projected drop to about 771,000 by the end of 2025. He also said the reforms reduced Citizens’ rate need and helped avoid an emergency assessment after the 2024 storms. Members asked about Citizens’ rate increases, why Citizens still seeks higher rates despite lower litigation, how the 20% eligibility threshold works, whether Citizens should be wind-only, and whether the state or federal government could help with deficits. Serio explained that Citizens is still charging below actuarially sound rates in most areas, that rate filings reflect reduced litigation and lower reinsurance exposure, and that assessments on all Florida property policyholders are the reason Citizens tries to build surplus and depopulate. He said the depopulation program is working better than in the past, with less than 2% of takeout policies returning to Citizens, and that the Office of Insurance Regulation has been vetting takeout companies more carefully. A substantial portion of the discussion focused on claims handling after Debby, Helene, and Milton, including flood-versus-wind disputes and Citizens’ use of the Division of Administrative Hearings for some claim disputes. Serio said Citizens had received 76,625 claims from the three storms and had paid nearly $823 million in indemnity and expenses as of January 7, 2025. He said many closed-without-payment claims were either below deductible, withdrawn, duplicate, or flood-only, and that Citizens had asked its internal audit function to independently review the claims data and denials. He also described Citizens’ storm outreach, catastrophe response centers, managed-repair program, and claim review process, and said the corporation remains focused on paying valid claims while minimizing the risk of assessments on the broader Florida market.

Transcript Highlights:

• For over 100 years, the Texas Insurance code has included anti-rebating laws which prohibit insurance
• directly with life insurance, retirement products, and various health insurance products offered in
• Uh, section of the insurance code.
• It allows insurance companies.
• We're going to shift from health insurance to a very niche industry of prescribed burning insurance,

Bills: HB139

Keywords: ad valorem tax, tax rates, voter-approval, taxing unit, property tax, local government

Transcript Highlights:

• We had offered at one point that each driver had to have insurance to cover that period, commercial insurance
• That term is, quote, “This section shall not require that a group health plan or group insurance insurer
• That term is, quote, “This section shall not require that a group health plan or group insurance insurer
• Its purpose is to ensure that certain insurance claims are still paid even when the insurer fails.
• We're overseen like an insurance company. We're regulated by the Department of Insurance.

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• To get insurance.
• insurance.
• Could you, is this mandate such that an insurance company offering insurance, any...
• That an insurance company offering insurance anywhere in the state would be required to offer insurance
• So I don't need flood insurance.

Bills: SB154, SB187, SB193, SM3

Keywords: insurance, wildfire, flood damage, natural disasters, property coverage, water projects, appropriation, New Mexico, finance authority, infrastructure, New Mexico Finance Authority, funding, SB193, acequia, community ditch, irrigation works construction fund, water infrastructure, ditch infrastructure, irrigation, New Mexico water law

Transcript Highlights:

• . insurance. insurance.
• </c> relating to insurance fraud. relating to insurance fraud.
• </c> relating to insurance. relating to insurance.
• </c> climate-friendly insurers. climate-friendly insurers.
• for the Insurance for an insurer for the Insurance Commissioner.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committee first heard several measures and took testimony without questions on SB 2431 relating to health savings accounts and SB 2797 relating to consumer protection. For SB 2797, the DCCA Office of Consumer Protection offered comments, Retail Merchants of Hawaii opposed the bill over gift card fraud compliance costs and legal risk, and AARP Hawaii supported it. The committee also heard SB 2946 on foreclosures, where the Hawaii State Bar Association’s Collection Law Section and several lenders, associations, and individuals opposed the measure, while the Hawaii Bankers Association and others offered comments. SB 2961 on insurance drew comments from the Insurance Division and Hawaii Insurance Council, with NAMIC opposing and some individuals supporting. SB 2948 on insurance fraud received comments from the Insurance Division and support from the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, with NAMIC and the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding also commenting. No votes were taken during the hearing portion, and the committee recessed after testimony. The committee then reconvened for decision-making on the 9:30 agenda. SB 2431 was passed with amendments, including DOTAX-requested changes, a five-year limit on credit carryforwards, removal of an aggregate cap, a rural definition, transparent reporting, technical amendments, and a deferred effective date of July 1, 2050. SB 2797 was also passed with DCCA-requested amendments, technical changes, and the same deferred effective date. SB 2946 was deferred because there was no testimony in support. SB 2961 was passed with amendments, but after Senator McKelvey raised concern that policy-limit language could undermine the bill, the committee removed two policy-limit amendments before adopting the recommendation. SB 2948 was passed with amendments deleting certain definitions, aligning penalties and public-records provisions, adding coordination and disclosure clarifications, and making technical changes; one no vote by Senator Awana was recorded, with the rest in favor. The committee also considered SB 3000 from a prior hearing and recommended passage with amendments clarifying the Attorney General’s authority, creating a special fund, and addressing concurrent actions, again with a deferred effective date and one no vote by Senator Awana. In a joint CPN/GVO agenda, SB 2258 relating to school agriculture procurement targets was passed with amendments after the Department of Education said it would need to follow up on whether changing the target period from calendar year to school year would create procurement or scheduling issues; the committee added technical changes, a deferred effective date, and routed the bill to Ways and Means, with a note that Education should also have received it. In a later joint CPN/AEN hearing, SB 2452 relating to climate-friendly insurers drew strong opposition from the Insurance Division and several insurance groups, who warned it could push insurers out of the authorized market and into the surplus lines market, raising costs; Senator Dela questioned whether the bill would worsen an already strained market, while the division said the legislature could make the policy choice but warned of market disruption. The hearing then moved to SB 2760 on invasive species, where DLNR, DAB, CGAPS, and the Oahu Invasive Species Committee generally supported broader inspection and quarantine authority, civil penalties, and longer interim-rule authority, while committee members asked about staffing, treatment capacity, and implementation for non-agricultural commodities such as building materials and vehicles.

Transcript Highlights:

• I would like to call this meeting of Business and Insurance to order.
• This is for the middle people and healthcare insurance.
• But in my car insurance, I would actually have another option.
• I don't work for an insurance carrier.
• Insurance carriers are trying to catch up with these rising costs.

Bills: SB1969, SB1953, SB1277, SB1287, SB1061, SB1916, SB1589, SB2178, SB1444, SB1438, SB1501, SB1873, SB1364

Keywords: massage therapy, licensing, multistate compact, regulation, healthcare, professionals, Employer Health Plan Transparency Act, health insurance, claims data, contract provisions, health care providers, auditable materials, HIPAA compliance, insurance regulation, unemployment benefits, employment security, work search, job search, reemployment, jobless benefits

Transcript Highlights:

• You've seen it in your own insurance rates, automobile insurance, homeowners insurance.
• So the insurance.
• You may have a primary insurer and an excess insurer.
• Which insurer, if you have multiple insurers that have paid on that?
• insured.

Bills: HB79, HB437, HB646, HB1089, HB1099, SB173, SB180, SB260, SB424, SB476

Keywords: carbon capture, damages, environmental liability, legal liability, site restoration, expert witness, expert testimony, witness fees, pecuniary interest, conflict of interest, civil procedure, evidence law, Louisiana evidence code, Louisiana civil litigation, expert report, discovery, pretrial disclosure, litigation transparency, settlement, damages award

Transcript Highlights:

• We had offered at one point that each driver had to have insurance to cover that period, commercial insurance
• So insurance companies can't be...
• That term is, quote, 'This section shall not require that a group health plan or group insurance insurer
• insurance claims are still paid even when the insurer fails.
• We're overseen like an insurance company. We're regulated by the Department of Insurance.

Keywords: 959, house, all