SF 230 – Legislative branch health insurance premiums
SF 231 – IID technical updates
SF 232 – IID update to pre-need funeral, cemetery receivership requirements
SF 233 – IID long-term-care insurance filing fee elimination
FLOOR & COMMITTEE ACTION
SF 230 (SF 212) concerns state health insurance plans for legislators and full-time legislative employees. Those who enroll in a state group insurance plan for state employees will be eligible under the same enrollment rules for the largest number of non-contract full-time state employees of the executive branch (other than employees of the State Board of Regents) and must pay that portion of the total premium for the plan selected on the same basis. The bill strikes language relating to premium rates in Code section 2.40(1)(a)(4). SF 230 takes effect upon enactment.
[Committee 2/9: short form; Floor 2/13: 50-0]
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 231 (SSB 1040) is a departmental proposal by the Iowa Insurance Division (IID) that makes technical updates based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) models, including conforming language with federal regulations. NAIC is the U.S. standard-setting and regulatory support organization. The IID recommendations were widely circulated to interested parties and stakeholders for review and comment.
[2/9: short form]
SF 232 (SSB 1042) is a recommendation by the Iowa Insurance Division (IID). It allows the Insurance Commissioner to notify the Iowa Attorney General of a potential need for a receivership for both a pre-need seller of cemetery and funeral merchandise or funeral services and for a cemetery itself. This eliminates the red tape of meeting a list of requirements in those situations where the pre-need seller or cemetery has consented to a receivership, and allows the Commissioner to move more quickly to protect the remaining funds held by either the pre-need seller or cemetery.
[2/9: short form]
SF 233 (SSB 1041) is a recommendation by the Iowa Insurance Division (IID) to eliminate a $25 filing fee for independent review of a benefit trigger determination under a long-term-care insurance policy. Current law gives the Insurance Commissioner the authority to waive this fee (this has been the practice 100 percent of the time for the past five years) when the IID stopped charging fees for health insurance appeals. The IID Division routinely helps Iowans with insurance issues without charging a fee, and removing the provision will eliminate confusion.
[2/9: short form]