All Insurance Legislation - Kentucky

Amend various sections of Subtitle 50 of KRS Chapter 304, relating to workers' compensation self-insured groups to extend application of the subtitle to "bona fide" trade associations; clarify that minimum surplus exemption applies to a group operating under a plan approved by the executive director, or a remedial plan approved prior to August 3, 2004; provide that security deposit requirements are based on an audited rather than certified statement of financial condition; establish requirements for banks or trust companies for security deposits and require approval by the executive director; require a custodial bank or trust company to have capital and surplus of $25 million or more, except that those licensed and regulated in Kentucky shall have $10 million or more; permit the purchase of certificates of deposit from any duly chartered bank; allow investment in equity securities that are actively traded on any registered national securities exchanges; clarify that eligible securities [...]

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Amend KRS 304.2-210 pertaining to examination of insurance companies to define "examination workpaper;" establish criteria to be considered by the executive director of the Office of Insurance in scheduling and determining the nature, scope, and frequency of examinations; permit the executive director to examine or investigate to the extent the executive director deems necessary or material; specify when a report of the most recently completed examination of a foreign, or alien, insurer can be accepted in lieu of the executive director making his or her own examination; amend KRS 304.2-230 to require the observance of guidelines in the Examiners' Handbook adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioner; establish criteria of who may be appointed as examiner; provide immunity for examiners; authorize the examiner to issue subpoenas; permit the executive director to terminate or suspend an examination in order to pursue other legal or regulatory action; amend KRS 304.2-250 to [...]

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Establish Subtitle 17D of KRS Chapter 304 and create new sections thereof to establish the Insurance Coverage Affordability and Relief to Small Employers (ICARE) Program to make health insurance more affordable for small employer groups of 2 to 50 employees; require all health insurers that issue health benefit plans to small employer groups to be ICARE program participating insurers; establish 2 employer health care incentive programs for eligible employers; prohibit participation by an employer group whose average annual salary exceeds 300% of the federal poverty level; require each participating insurer to offer at least 1 enriched qualified health benefit plan to each employer group; direct that health care incentives shall be paid in amounts of $40 per employee per month to the employer group that has not provided coverage for the past 12 months and $60 per employee per month to the employer group that has at least 1 member with a high-cost health condition; authorize the Office of [...]

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Create new sections of KRS Chapter 91A to define "local government," "risk location system or program," and "tax period"; establish the method for the filing of amended returns and requests or assessments by any insurance company, local government, or policyholder for nonpayment, underpayment, or overpayment of any license fees or taxes imposed under Section 5 of this Act and the appeals from the denial or refusal thereof; permit an insurance company that has paid a license fee or tax imposed by a local government to request a refund or credit for any overpayment of the fee or tax or any payment when no tax was due within the time provided; permit any policyholder who has paid to an insurance company a license fee or tax imposed by a local government under Section 5 of this Act to request a refund or credit for an overpayment of a license fee or tax or any payment when no tax was due within the time provided; permit a local government to request the Office of Insurance to conduct an audit [...]

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Create new sections of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require a health benefit plan with a provider network to provide coverage for the dialysis provider of the insured's choice; establish a method of determining the payment rate for out-of-network dialysis services; prevent restriction of the insured's choice; prevent restriction of the dialysis benefit during open enrollment; define "unreasonable distance" and prohibit travel of such distance for in-network dialysis service; provide coverage for out-of-network dialysis if the distance for in-network dialysis is unreasonable; require written notice of any change to a health plan with a provider network that would affect a dialysis patient's coverage or benefit level concerning out-of-network coverage; require payment directly to the dialysis provider and not to the patient; require the executive director of the Office of Insurance to conduct a review of all findings to determine compliance within 120 days of the effective date of this [...]

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Create new sections of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to provide for payment by a managed care plan to a physician seeking expedited credentialing; require insurers to provide payment or fee schedules to health care providers when contracting or renewing contracts with providers to enable providers to determine the manner and amount of payments under the contract prior to final execution or renewal of the contract; require any change to payment or fee schedules applicable to providers be made available to providers at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the amendment; provide that if an insurer issuing a managed care plan modifies an agreement it has entered into with a participating provider, the insurer must provide the provider with at least 30 days notice of the modification and notify the provider that the provider has the option to withdraw from the agreement at the end of the 30 day period prior to the modification becoming effective; require such provider who opts to withdraw [...]

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Amend KRS 304.15-020 to define "advertisement," "financing transaction," "life expectancy," "premium finance loan," "purchaser," "settled policy," and "stranger-originated life insurance"; amend KRS 304.15-700 to prohibit an insurer that is the subject of a life settlement contract from being responsible for any act or omission of a broker, purchaser, or provider unless the insurer receives compensation for the placement of the life settlement contract from the broker, purchaser, or provider; prohibit an insurer from requiring the owner, insured, provider, or broker to sign any form, disclosure, consent, waiver, or acknowledgment that has not been expressly approved by the executive director of the Office of Insurance; create a new section of KRS 304.15-700 to 304.15-725 to regulate advertisements pertaining to life settlements; amend KRS 304.15-710 to add disclosures a provider must provide to an owner; require the broker to make certain disclosures to the provider and owner; create a [...]

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Amend KRS 304.13-051 to require filing of medical malpractice insurance rates with the Office of Insurance; create new sections of Subtitle 13 of KRS Chapter 304 to prohibit certain components from being included in a medical malpractice rate filing; restrict premiums for medical malpractice polices covering health care providers who deliver one or more babies per year; require the executive director of insurance on or before April 1 of each year to determine if there are any medical specialties in the state which are essential as a matter of public policy and which must be protected from certain adverse actions relating to medical malpractice insurance that may impair the availability of these essential medical specialties to residents of this state; direct the executive director to provide the list of essential medical specialties to each insurer that issues medical malpractice coverage to health care providers practicing in any of the essential medical specialties; require an insurer [...]

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Amend KRS 304.9-350 to prohibit an individual or business entity licensed as a consultant, or agent or an agency with whom the consultant has a financial or business ownership interest or affiliation, from contracting, selling, or negotiating insurance for the risk of the client who is subject to the consulting contract during the term of the contract or within twelve months of the termination of the contract; permit consulting fees paid to a consultant to be shared between a business entity licensed as a consultant and an individual who is licensed as a consultant and is an owner, officer, partner, member, or employee of the business entity; require a person licensed as a consultant to disclose in a written contract signed by the party to be charged prior to the provision of consultant services the services to be provided, the beginning and ending date of the agreement, any insurance policy to which the agreement for consultant's services applies, the arrangement for compensation of the [...]

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Create new sections of KRS Chapter 36 to establish definitions; establish right of military leave for a member of the Kentucky National Guard or Reserve component with Kentucky as home of record and require reasonable notice be given to employer of that member; establish reemployment rights for returning members at the same pay and benefits as if the member had been continuously employed if member contacts employer within specified amount of time after return from active duty, or in another position if the member has a disability which makes them unqualified for their previous position; limit reemployment rights to members honorably discharged or otherwise satisfactorily released from active duty and when active duty is less than five years cumulatively; establish right to continue insurance benefits during active duty; provide that rights are supplemental to any federal rights and does not supersede any agreement that provide more beneficial rights to members; establish right of a member [...]

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Create new sections of Subchapter 14 of KRS Chapter 304 to establish the Kentucky Long-Term Care Partnership Program upon approval of a Medicaid waiver to disregard assets, resources, and estate recovery requirements of the Medicaid program in a $1 to $1 amount; permit Medicaid eligibility with disregards upon the exhaustion of the benefits of the partnership policy; require the Office of Insurance and the Department for Medicaid Services to jointly establish the program; define policy terms and services covered; require approval of a partnership policy; specify reporting requirements; require assurance that agents who sell partnership policies understand the policy in Section 2(4); require promulgation of administrative regulations; require insurers to disclose availability of the Kentucky Long-Term Care Partnership Insurance Program; create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Department for Medicaid Services to apply for a federal waiver to establish the partnership program;[...]

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Direct the Legislative Research Commission to create the Local Government Insurance Premium Taxes Task Force to study the current local government insurance premium tax system to determine how efficient and how effective the system is in assessing, collecting, and remitting taxes to provide a reliable source of revenue to the appropriate local governments; direct the task force to review the feasibility of assigning to a single entity the responsibility of collecting and remitting the premium taxes to the appropriate local governments; direct the task force to make recommendations to streamline the current system to eliminate inefficiencies, ensure accurate payments to local governments, and alleviate the administrative burden on insurance companies; establish a task force consisting of 14 members; require the task force to issue its report to the Legislative Research Commission and the Interim Joint Committee on Banking and Insurance no later than November 1, 2008; provide that final membership [...]

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Create new sections of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require a health benefit plan with a provider network to provide coverage for the dialysis provider of the insured's choice; prevent restriction of the dialysis benefit during open enrollment; define "unreasonable distance" and prohibit travel of such distance for in-network dialysis service; provide coverage for out-of-network dialysis if the distance for in-network dialysis is unreasonable; require written notice of any change to a health plan with a provider network that would affect a dialysis patient's coverage or benefit level concerning out-of-network coverage; require payment directly to the dialysis provider and not to the patient; require the executive director of the Office of Insurance to conduct a review of all filings to determine compliance within 120 days of the effective date of the Act; require insurers to notify the office of any violations; authorize the office to promulgate necessary regulations to implement [...]

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Create new sections of KRS Chapter 311A to regulate personal emergency response systems under the authority of the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services; define terms, including "personal emergency response system"; set out basic necessary duties of the board, including the addition of personal emergency response system data in emergency run report forms developed under KRS 311A.190; require that providers be licensed to provide personal emergency response systems; institute an emergency 911 response protocol for unanswered voice-to-voice communication responses to customers; list information necessary for basic applications and for notification of the creation of branch offices; establish minimum criteria to apply for a manager's license; forbid the issuance of a license unless the applicant has specified liability insurance; limit local government regulation of personal emergency response systems to charges for use of a police central alarm installation, inspection fees, or discontinuance [...]

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Amend KRS 344.010 to include definitions for "sexual orientation" and "gender identity"; amend KRS 344.020, relating to the purpose of the Kentucky's civil rights chapter, to include a prohibition on discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity; amend KRS 344.040, 344.050, 344.060, 344.070, and 344.080, relating to prohibited discrimination in various labor and employment practices, to include sexual orientation and gender identity; amend KRS 344.025, 344.100, 344.110, and KRS 18A.095, relating to the same, to conform; amend KRS 344.120 and 342.140, relating to prohibited discrimination in places of public accommodation and advertisements therefor, to include sexual orientation and gender identity; amend KRS 344.170, 344.180, 344.190, 344.300, and 344.310, relating to the state and local human rights commissions, to include prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the scope of their powers and duties; amend KRS 344.360, [...]

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Create a new section of KRS 304.14-600 to 304.14-625 to require long-term care insurers to file rates with the executive director of the Office of Insurance for all long-term care insurance policies; require the insurer to submit a copy of the filing to the Attorney General; require the insurer to submit a new filing to reflect any material change to any previously filed and approved rate filing; require the insurer to submit an amendment to a previously approved rate filing for all other changes; provide that the executive director shall approve or disapprove the filing within 60 days after filing; permit the executive director to order a retroactive reduction of rates; establish criteria to be considered when reviewing a rate filing; permit the executive director to withdraw approval after 30 days notice has been given; authorize the executive director to establish by administrative regulation additional criteria to be considered; direct the executive director to hold a hearing upon request [...]

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