Transcript Highlights:

• Significant structural damage. These claims are getting resolved within a year.
• The insurance premiums won't be Driven by litigation.
• Finally, and most importantly for policy consideration, this bill will raise premiums.
• Finally, and most importantly for policy consideration, this bill will raise premiums.
• have continued to grow premium volume and maintain strong financial positions.

Bills: HF4881, HF4867, HF4422, HF4223

Keywords: healthcare, insurance, regulation, financial institutions, prescription drug affordability, consumer protection, restitution account, financial compensation, attorney general, distributions, property insurance, homeowners insurance, fire and allied lines, hail insurance, appraisal clause, loss adjustment, alternative dispute resolution, insurance claims, claim valuation, actual cash value

Transcript Highlights:

• I will note that the committee structures have now been restructured a tiny bit.
• I will note that the committee structures have now been restructured a tiny bit.
• I will note that the committee structures have now been restructured a tiny bit.
• I will note that the committee structures have now been restructured a tiny bit.
• included in Paid Family Leave premium included in Paid Family Leave premium collection<00:20:57.559

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The committee’s first official meeting was framed as an informational session, with the chair saying no legislation would be acted on and that testimony would focus on what is working and not working for businesses and workers in Minnesota. The stated topics included earned sick and safe time, paid family and medical leave, labor shortages, and broader business climate concerns. The chair also noted the absence of DFL members and invited questions to be held until the end so testifiers could present fully. Lauren Shodor of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce argued that Minnesota’s business climate has worsened because of high taxes, rising costs, regulation, and new workplace mandates. She cited chamber survey and research findings saying more businesses are considering leaving the state, that Minnesota companies are investing more in other states than vice versa, and that the state lags national growth rates. She said employers are especially concerned about earned sick and safe time and the upcoming paid family and medical leave program, which the chamber believes add compliance burdens and costs, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. Matt Hilgart of the Association of Minnesota Counties said the new leave laws affect county budgets and operations because labor is the main county cost and services are often state-mandated. He said the programs were imposed outside the collective bargaining process and can duplicate existing county benefits, increase costs, and create staffing and service challenges. He asked for changes including clearer premium-sharing language, exclusion of elected officials and short-term election workers from paid leave requirements, better exemption and private-plan rules, coordination requirements for intermittent leave, and more clarity for essential employees during weather emergencies. Owen Worth of the League of Minnesota Cities said cities are facing similar implementation problems, with overlapping leave policies and concerns about stacking state and federal leave rules, and he indicated the league would support changes to reduce administrative and budget pressures on cities.

Transcript Highlights:

• In 2025, we are at about $2,800 for our average premium. So not a huge growth in average premium.
• In 2025, we are at about $2,800 for our average premium. So not a huge growth in average premium.
• Of the homes, the structures, not the homes, the structures that were in that fire area, we insured 13%
• So we had 23% of those structures.
• But $682 was our premium.

Summary: The Assembly Insurance Committee held an oversight hearing on the California Fair Plan, focused on the plan’s rapid growth, its financial stability after the January Southern California wildfires, and its role as the insurer of last resort. Fair Plan officials explained that the plan was created in 1968, is a not-for-profit involuntary association of licensed property insurers, and is intended to be a temporary safety net until policyholders can return to the admitted market. They emphasized that the plan is not a state agency or taxpayer-funded, but is regulated by the Department of Insurance and supported by member-company assessments if claims exceed available funds. Victoria Roach and Armand Feliciano said the Fair Plan has grown sharply since 2018 and especially after market pullbacks by major insurers, reaching about 575,000 policies and roughly $600 billion in exposure by spring 2025. They noted that growth is increasingly occurring in lower wildfire-risk areas, where the plan can sometimes be cheaper than the voluntary market, and said this undermines depopulation back into the private market. They also discussed recent policy expansions, including coverage for farms, higher residential and commercial limits, and pending or proposed changes such as AB 290, SB 525, and AB 226, which would add tools like a line of credit and bond access. A major portion of the hearing addressed the January wildfire losses and the plan’s financial response. Fair Plan officials said they assessed member insurers for $1 billion after determining claims and cash flow would exceed available resources, and that the process was approved quickly and paid smoothly, with more than 80% of the assessment collected within 10 days. They also described the reinsurance tower, the plan’s limited surplus, and the need for actuarially sound rates to reduce future reliance on assessments. On claims handling, they said the plan has received over 5,500 claims from the fires, has paid more than $2.9 billion so far, expects total payments near $4 billion, and has focused on advancing payments quickly for total losses and other urgent needs. Members questioned the plan’s solvency, the growth in non-wildfire areas, claim denials, smoke-loss coverage, and how depopulation works. Roach said most closed claims without payment were duplicates rather than denials, and that smoke claims require direct physical loss under the policy, with coverage determined case by case. Public commenters from the California Building Industry Association and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of California said the Fair Plan’s growth reflects a weak voluntary market, inadequate rates, and insurer fear of future assessments, and urged support for rate increases and AB 226. The hearing concluded with no vote, but with a commitment from Fair Plan officials to follow up on unanswered questions and continue providing more transparency through public data and website disclosures.

Transcript Highlights:

• or advanced premium tax credits.
• Typically, this means that you're going to have lower premium in metro urban areas and a higher premium
• A year times four, yes, and certainly talking about 3% of premium across all the premium collected is
• up to premiums of insurance in other states?
• in requested premium each year.

Keywords: 907, all

Summary: The committee held an informational hearing focused first on Oregon Medicaid coordinated care organization (CCO) finances and rate setting. Oregon Health Authority staff explained how 2025 CCO financial results will inform 2027 capitation rates, including reserve requirements, subcapitation arrangements, and major cost drivers such as behavioral health, pharmacy, rural hospital costs, and dental directed payments. They said the Legislature’s added 2025 funding materially improved CCO margins and that, without it, the program would have been negative overall. Members asked about retained earnings, subcapitation, behavioral health utilization, ABA therapy, and whether outcomes are being evaluated; OHA said rate setting is actuarial and that CCOs, OHA, and other partners all play roles in monitoring efficacy and access. OHA also reviewed House Bill 4039 changes intended to increase transparency and give CCOs earlier access to rate information and reconciliation exhibits. CCO representatives then testified that the system is under significant financial pressure and that behavioral health state-directed payments, benefit changes, and federal uncertainty from H.R. 1 are reducing flexibility. CareOregon said it has lost more than $500 million over the last couple of years and is now making provider terminations and other network changes to align spending with available funding, while emphasizing that CCOs must make hard decisions about which services and providers can be sustained. Eastern Oregon CCO said rural and frontier factors, cost-based hospitals, air ambulance needs, and statewide efficiency adjustments are not fully reflected in rates, and that dental funding is especially strained. Trillium similarly warned that state-directed payments and benefit expansion pressures are constraining the global budget model and that H.R. 1 could worsen acuity and volatility. Members pressed the witnesses on who is responsible for evaluating treatment effectiveness, especially for ABA and psychotherapy, and on how utilization limits and reimbursement changes are being used to control costs. The committee then shifted to an overview of the Affordable Care Act and Oregon’s commercial insurance market. Department of Consumer and Business Services staff explained actuarial value, metal tiers, premium tax credits, medical loss ratio rules, and the main drivers of premium rates: cost trend, utilization trend, and administrative costs. They said mandates have likely added only a limited amount to premiums over the past decade, though the exact effect is difficult to isolate, and they gave examples of how high-cost, low-volume services versus broad, high-utilization services can affect rates differently. Staff also noted that Providence Health Plan and PacificSource Health Plans are withdrawing from the individual market, though consumers should still have at least three insurer options in every county and may have four in many counties. The division said it is in the middle of reviewing proposed 2027 rates and will continue its public rate review process, including hearings and written comment.

Transcript Highlights:

• increase if upon renewal any premium increase if upon renewal premiums<00:10:33.120> are<00:10
• explanation for certain premium explanation for certain premium increases<00:10:53.360> during
• Second is that COMIC would have to pay premium taxes, which would increase the premiums otherwise charged
• <00:35:01.560> taxes comic would have to pay premium taxes comic would have to pay premium
• <00:37:44.359> are Market cycle initially the premiums are Market cycle initially the premiums

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committee opened by outlining hearing procedures, including a two-minute limit for live testimony, a request not to repeat written testimony, and a reminder about decorum. The first bill heard was SB 697, which would create a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for expenses to retrofit residences with wind-resistive devices. The Insurance Division said it supported the concept but noted it may need an appropriation or outside expertise to develop certification standards, while the Department of Taxation said the bill should retain a third-party certification requirement if the Insurance Division cannot administer the credit. The Hawaii Insurers Council supported the bill, and the Tax Foundation suggested a subsidy-style program would be more efficient than a tax credit and criticized the bill’s 100% credit structure. A testifier in support argued the measure would help homeowners fortify houses against hurricanes and reduce shelter demand; written testimony from several others, including HIEMA, was noted as supportive. The committee then moved through SB 76, which would require the Hawaii Property Insurance Association to provide commercial property coverage after two private-market denials, and SB 83, which would require insurers to give advance written premium-change notices and explanations to common-interest community policyholders and the insurance commissioner, along with a report on premium increases. For SB 76, the State Insurance Division stood on its written comments, and testimony in support came from Michael Honda, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, and Jessica Herzog. SB 83 drew more extensive discussion: the Insurance Division supported the need for better transparency, while the Hawaii Insurers Council opposed the bill, arguing that agents—not insurers—typically communicate with AOAO boards and that the measure could worsen an already difficult market. Insurance Division staff acknowledged widespread complaints from condo associations about lack of transparency and said the division had received many calls about premium increases and nonrenewals. The discussion on SB 83 expanded into broader concerns about condo insurance, nonrenewals, surplus lines, and the difficulty of getting timely explanations for large premium increases. Committee members and testifiers described older buildings struggling to fund repairs and upgrades while facing steep insurance costs, and some urged the committee to craft baseline statutory protections for unit owners. The Insurance Division said surplus lines serve a critical gap-filling role and warned against regulating that market in a way that could slow access to coverage. No votes or final committee actions were taken in the portion of the meeting provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• um and because of these structural um and because of these structural market<00:12:44.000> barriers
• <00:25:02.760> reason uh if it if there were structural reason uh if it if there were structural
• So, in some cases, talking of structural— So, in some cases, talking of structural, that being able to
• > a<01:14:20.960> simple That structure exists for a simple That structure exists for a
• Competitive suppliers are structurally Competitive suppliers are structurally disadvantaged,<01:16:02.080

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I think they add a premium to it.
• So homeowners is as interesting as In premium.
• So it's not just that you pay a lower premium.
• new home, just in the premiums that we have to pay out.
• new home, just in the premiums that we have to pay out.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• My weekly premium is $321.64, and that is weekly.
• So when drug costs spike, so do premiums, jeopardizing affordability and access.
• But state mandates account for more than 17 percent of premiums in Massachusetts.
• But state mandates account for more than 17 percent of premiums in Massachusetts.
• Legislature to examine the effects a law or regulation would have on insurance premiums.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing held a public hearing on a broad set of health care bills focused on cost, market oversight, pharmaceutical access, transparency, hospital closures, and pharmacy access. Chairs John Lawn and Cindy Friedman opened by emphasizing recent health care reforms and the need for further action on the drug supply chain, PBMs, private equity, and affordability. The committee heard testimony on several measures, including a Betsy Lehman Center bill to make technical changes and create a permanent trust account for federal and private funding, and bills on hospital profits and fairness, hospital closures and health planning, pharmacy deserts, and health care market oversight and pharmaceutical access. No votes were taken during the hearing. On the hospital profits bill, physicians and labor advocates strongly supported capping hospital CEO compensation at 50 times the lowest-paid worker, requiring greater financial transparency, and directing penalties from high-margin public hospitals into a Medicaid reimbursement fund. Testifiers argued that executive pay is excessive while frontline staff and safety-net services are under strain. Committee members raised concerns about unintended consequences, including whether hospitals might shift workers to contract status or lose executive talent, and whether the bill would actually direct money to the safety net. Supporters responded that the measure is one piece of a larger effort and that the bill’s Medicaid reimbursement provisions would help underserved hospitals. Testimony on market oversight and pharmaceutical access centered on rising health care and drug costs, PBM practices, and the proposal to give the Health Policy Commission authority to set upper payment limits for certain drugs. Consumer advocates, disability advocates, an independent pharmacist, the Attorney General’s office, and others supported stronger oversight, citing premium increases, affordability problems, and the impact of high drug prices on patients and community pharmacies. Pharma and some industry witnesses opposed parts of the bill, warning that upper payment limits could disrupt access, create legal issues, and fail to address the broader supply chain. The committee also heard support for stronger hospital closure notice and public hearing requirements, and for a pharmacy deserts bill aimed at identifying and addressing closures like the one in Roxbury that affected thousands of patients.

Transcript Highlights:

• These structures are typically older structures that may have some structural issues or other limitations
• These structures are typically older structures that may have some structural issues or other limitations
• These structures are typically older structures that may have some structural issues or other limitations
• These structures are typically older structures that may have some structural issues or other limitations
• These structures are typically older structures that may have some structural issues or other limitations

Bills: HF1865, HF2014, HF2028

Keywords: mortgage, qualified mortgage, QM, points and fees, conventional loan, consumer lending, home loan, residential real estate, lender fees, service charge, finance charge, closing costs, Minnesota Statutes 47.20, housing finance, borrower protections, cooperative apartment loan, contract for deed, real estate lending, foreclosure, notice requirements

Transcript Highlights:

• TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PROGRAM, THE INSURED VALUE OF THE STRUCTURE HAS TO BE LESS THEN $700,000.
• SO THERE IS THE CONNECTION TO THE INSURANCE PREMIUM THAT HAPPENS WITH THIS INSPECTION.
• HERE YOU CAN SEE BROKEN DOWN BY CALENDAR YEAR THE AVERAGE PREMIUM REDUCTIONS.
• SO I THINK THAT WILL ALSO BE TELLING TO SEE WHAT THE PREMIUM IMPACT THERE IS.
• I'LL GIVE YOU A QUICK OVERVIEW OF KIND OF HOW WE ARE STRUCTURED.

Transcript Highlights:

• And a way to try to encourage people to stay with those premiums, keep paying those premiums, and keep
• <00:02:10.239> are years and the cost of those premiums are years and the cost of those premiums
• <00:02:14.280> keep people to stay with those premiums keep people to stay with those premiums
• 15.400> keep<00:02:15.599> that paying those premiums and keep that paying those premiums
• to raise premiums, but there's more and more pressure to raise premiums, and they're facing a similar

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• Those u solid waste structure.
• But I think we know that Congress is looking at not premiums but cost sharing.
• But I think we know that Congress is looking at not premiums but cost sharing.
• But I appreciate your work. $1,000 in premium. And it $1,000 in premium.
• That the premium shall only apply to Medicaid and shall not apply to waiver services.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And then two of our larger hospitals, being UAMS and Children's, have a different per diem structure
• We have to have a broad-based and uniform fee structure that is approved by the feds to be charged to
• An Arkansas insurance premium, paid for by an employer and an employee sharing, right, it's almost the
• every time your premium is increased because the hospital cost is pretty much the same.
• And if commercial payers are taking in about the same number of premiums in our state as they are in

Keywords: 1204, all

Transcript Highlights:

• face premiums of about $27,000 a year.
• And that breakdown of incentive structure is everywhere.
• Because your employers' costs go up, your premiums go up.
• That our underlying cost structure was too high.
• But then they also had a premium freeze and have been able to keep premiums flat.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• partially offset by lower gross premium partially offset by lower gross premium tax<00:42:06.960
• <00:43:07.200> of uh premium searchcharge collections of uh premium searchcharge collections
• access fund retains a structural access fund retains a structural imbalance<00:52:04.880> in<
• So, that's a uh structural deficit.
• <01:25:59.760> to leverage those existing structures to leverage those existing structures

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• market and help premiums down bring premiums<01:15:05.600> down.
• otherwise built into the premiums. otherwise built into the premiums.
• federal enhanced premium tax credits. federal enhanced premium tax credits.
• be passed on through higher premiums. be passed on through higher premiums.
• with rate or premiums and rates. with rate or premiums and rates.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• , the enforcement structure Third, the enforcement structure introduces<00:10:54.840> legal<00
• Please introduce yourself. important, but the current structure important, but the current structure
• premiums of striking workers. premiums of striking workers.
• Last year they premium increases.
• . premiums. premiums.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And then two of our larger hospitals, being UAMS and Children's, have a different per diem structure
• We have to have a broad-based and uniform fee structure that is approved by the feds to be charged to
• We have to have a broad-based and uniform fee structure that is approved by the feds to be charged to
• every time your premium is increased because the hospital cost is pretty much the Time your premium
• And if commercial payers are taking in about the same number of premiums in our state as they are in

Summary: The subcommittee met to review Arkansas DHS hospital spending and reimbursement methods, with Secretary Janet Mann and Deputy Secretary Misty Eubanks explaining Medicaid hospital payments. They described fee-for-service per diem payments, cost settlements, and the upper payment limit (UPL) program, noting that SFY 2025 hospital payments included $688 million in inpatient/outpatient claims, $473 million in UPL payments, $248 million in cost settlements, and about $47 million in other payments such as graduate medical education and disproportionate share hospital funds. Members asked about why per diem rates vary, how cost settlements work, why UPL applies mainly to private hospitals, and how assessment fees are structured and funded. DHS said the hospital assessment fee is broad-based and uniform, used as the state share to draw federal funds, and that supplemental hospital payments after federal match totaled $548 million with no general revenue used. The Arkansas Hospital Association’s Jody Ann Tritt then gave a broader overview of the hospital landscape, explaining the different hospital types in the state, including critical access hospitals, rural emergency hospitals, PPS hospitals, and specialty hospitals. She said Arkansas hospitals face financial strain, citing a negative 5.18% patient service margin statewide and lower reimbursement than surrounding states. She argued that Arkansas hospitals are paid less than hospitals in neighboring states for similar services, that commercial payer rates and administrative burdens are a major problem, and that Medicaid and Medicare rates remain below cost even with UPL support. She also said hospitals are the backbone of community care, provide emergency and public health functions, and are looking for ways to invest in technology and telehealth but often lack the revenue to do so. Members pressed for clearer data on hospital finances, reimbursement adequacy, and the impact of commercial insurers. Tritt said the association had just authorized a statewide survey to gather updated financial information from hospitals, which she said would take about a year to complete. She also explained that Medicaid pays weekly, Medicare and commercial plans can involve delays and denials, and that hospitals often spend significant resources on revenue cycle work. The discussion ended with a brief update on assisted living reimbursement: DHS said one facility, The Pillars of the Community in Crossett, had announced closure, nine Living Choices waiver clients were being transitioned, and the updated rate study would be available after cost reports are collected, likely before the end of the fiscal year. The meeting then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• increases reinsurance policy premiums. increases reinsurance policy premiums.
• we would use the same structure. we would use the same structure.
• It's a different tax structure.
• It's a different tax structure.
• premium deficiency reserve report. premium deficiency reserve report.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• I don't understand fire insurance premium taxes. We have insurance premium taxes.
• Is this the same as what our Fire insurance premium taxes. We have insurance premium taxes.
• Chairman, Representative Porter, it's a modest premium.
• How might you structure that?
• And then the tax structure that goes with that.

Keywords: 908, all

Summary: The committee was called to order, a quorum was established, and the minutes from the prior meeting were approved. The first major presentation came from Montana Public Employees Retirement System executive director William Hollahan, who gave an overview of Montana’s Volunteer Firefighters’ Compensation Act plan. He explained that the plan covers volunteer firefighters in unincorporated areas, is funded by 5% of state fire insurance premium taxes, and currently serves 228 departments with about 2,936 active members and 1,242 retirees. He described eligibility rules, annual training and reporting requirements, benefit levels for partial and full pensions, disability, death, medical, and funeral benefits, and said the plan is actuarially sound with roughly $60 million in assets and a funded ratio slightly above 100%. Committee members asked about prior-service credit, whether EMS personnel are included, the effect on recruitment and retention, and whether expanding coverage would require a funding analysis; Hollahan said prior service is not credited, EMS is not currently included, and any expansion would need financial review. Tim Walleen of Workforce Safety and Insurance then presented a draft North Dakota workers’ compensation solution for volunteer firefighters and volunteer EMS personnel. He explained that volunteer responders are already covered by workers’ comp for medical and wage-loss benefits, but the proposal would set a minimum annual wage of $30,000 for calculating wage-loss benefits for qualifying volunteers, with the benefit paid at two-thirds of that amount. Representative Porter suggested tying the volunteer definition to existing code rather than a fixed dollar amount, and Walleen agreed. Questions focused on whether search and rescue or other volunteer emergency services could be included, whether departments would face new paperwork, and whether volunteer organizations can already elect coverage; Walleen said there would be no additional paperwork and that volunteer coverage is already available. The committee also heard from volunteer fire service representatives and the state fire marshal. An Oakes-area firefighter, Mr. Olson, testified that small departments are struggling with retention, communication, and administrative burdens, especially around separate bookkeeping and funding rules for donated or fundraising money, and he said departments need clearer guidance from the state. State Fire Marshal Dr. Matthew Clark introduced himself and outlined a broader effort to improve education, support, and coordination for fire departments, including a planned 10% audit of certificates of existence beginning in 2027, more outreach through his office, and better assistance with training, reporting, and grant access. He said his office is authorized under current law to provide these services, but the role has been vague and underused. Finally, Arnagard Rural Fire District Chief Rick Schreiber testified in favor of new recruitment and retention ideas, including retirement-style benefits, health insurance, tax incentives, scholarships, grants, and more remote or regional training. He said volunteer departments are losing members, that local tax and donation funds are already stretched, and that any new retirement or incentive program should be sustainable and likely involve a mix of state and local support.