Banking and Insurance Committee 11/20/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Thursday, November 20, 2008 and adopted the following recommendations regarding the insurance company merger portion of Act 62 of 2008. 

Recommendation #1: This recommendation states the committee’s objections to the proposed merger between Independence Blue Cross and Highmark.  It state that the Senate Banking and Insurance recommend that Commissioner Ario disapprove the merger.

Recommendation #2: This document lists recommendations that the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee have for Commissioner Ario if he approves the merger between Independence Blue Cross and Highmark. 

Both recommendations were adopted by the committee with a vote of 10-4.  As a result, they will be passed on to Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario.  Members of the committee are also free to submit their own comments/recommendations.

Banking and Insurance Committee 09/22/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Monday, September 22, 2008 and took the following action:

Reported as Amended:

SB 1422 (D. White): This bill allows for employees of small employers to continue to receive their group health insurance coverage through COBRA.

SB 1453 (Corman): This legislation allows dependent children to receive health insurance coverage through their parent’s policy up to 30 years of age.

Both bills were reported unanimously.

Banking and Insurance Committee 09/17/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 and took the following action:

Reported as Amended:

HB 1177 (Fabrizio):This legislation allows for Licensed Clinical Social Workers to receive reimbursement from insurance companies for providing mental health services.

SB 1307 (Corman): This bill provides consumer protections for annuity sales.

HB 2098 (DeLuca ): This legislation creates the Preventable Serious Adverse Events Act. 

All bills were reported unanimously.

Banking and Insurance Committee 07/03/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Thursday, July 03, 2008 and took the following action:

Nomination favorably reported (unanimously):

Joel S. Ario, Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania

Banking and Insurance Committee 07/02/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 and took the following action:

Reported as Committed:

HB 1167 (Biancucci): The bill amends the Insurance Department Act of 1921 by adding a trend test calculation to the definition of Company Action Level Event.

Banking and Insurance Committee 06/30/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Monday, June 30, 2008 and took the following action:

Reported as Committed:

HB 2294 (D. Evans): This bill provides for the licensing of debt management services.

Banking and Insurance Committee 06/26/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Thursday, June 26, 2008 and took the following action:

Reported as Amended (unanimously):

HB 1150 (D. O’Brien): This legislation mandates insurance coverage for autism spectrum disorders and colon cancer screenings; outlines statutory requirements for the Blues Merger; raises the admitted assets investment cap and makes changes for shareholders of domestic insurers.

Banking and Insurance Committee 06/04/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Wednesday, June 04, 2008 and took the following action:

Reported as Amended (unanimously):

SB 250: This legislation forbids lenders from requiring borrowers to obtain property insurance that exceeds the replacement value of the building or buildings.

SB 768: This legislation amends Title 64 (Public Authorities and Quasi-Public Corporations) to allow institutions that do not offer deposit services to qualify as providers of commercial lending.

HB 2179: This legislation amends Titles 7 and 18 to consolidate state licensure of all first and second mortgage institutions.

Reported as Committed (unanimously):

SB 260: This legislation amends the Unfair Insurance Practices Act.  It adds several items to the list of unfair insurance practices.

SB 1276: This legislation provides for the licensing of credit counseling agencies.

SB 1370: This legislation amends the Insurance Company Law of 1921.  Specifically it makes changes to section 1405, which addresses Standards and Management of an Insurer with a Holding Company System.

Banking and Insurance Committee 03/18/08

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 and took the following action:

Reported as Amended (unanimously):

SB 998 PN 1215 (McIlhinney): This bill requires health insurance policies issued by insurance companies to reimburse for mental health services provided by licensed clinical social workers.

SB 1254 PN 1702 (D. White): This legislation amends the Insurance Company Law of 1921 to clarify that service contracts are not an insurance product and are exempt from insurance regulation.

Reported as Committed (unanimously):

SR 248, PN 1828 (D. White): This resolution designates April 7-11, 2008 as "Community Banking Week" in Pennsylvania.

Banking and Insurance Committee 12/04/07

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Tuesday, December 04, 2007 and took the following action:

Reported as amended (unanimously)

SB 483, PN 525 (Browne): This bill amends the Usury Law to limit pre-payment penalties, increases the fine for violations of the law, clarifies and expands the investigation and enforcement duties of the Banking Department.

SB 484, PN 526 (Browne): This bill amends the confidentiality provisions of the Banking Code to authorize the Department of Banking to publicly release information about enforcement actions.

SB 487, PN 529 (Browne): This bill amends the Mortgage Bankers and Brokers and Consumer Equity Protection Act to create a new licensing category for individual mortgage originators (individual who deals directly with the consumer in order to obtain mortgage loan applications).  It also sets up pre-licensing education and testing requirements, as well as continuing education requirements and license renewal provision.

SB 488, PN 530 (Browne): This bill creates a new licensing category for individual mortgage originators (individuals that solicit and negotiate directly with mortgage loan applicants) under the Second Mortgage Licensure Act.  It sets up pre-licensing education and testing requirements, as well as continuing education requirements and license renewal provision.

Banking and Insurance Committee 10/24/07

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 and took action as follows:

Reported as amended (unanimously):

SB 1137, PN 1488 (D. White): This bill extends the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (Mcare) Act abatement expiration from December 31, 2007 to December 31, 2008 and establishes a State Treasury fund that is known as the Mcare Reserve Fund. 

Banking and Insurance Committee 05/02/07

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Wednesday, May 2, 2007, and took action as follows:

Reported Out as Amended

HB 112 pn 1354 (Representative Eachus) The legislation amends the Insurance Company Law to further provide for hospital plan corporations and professional health services plan corporations and for consolidations under the Insurance Holding Company Act.  It provides the Insurance Department with additional tools to review, approve, or disapprove consolidations of Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies. Vote:  9-5

Banking and Insurance Committee 03/28/07

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Wednesday, March 28, 2007, and took action as follows:

Reported Out as Committed (Unanimously)

Senate Resolution 65 (D. White)  The resolution designates April 16 through 20, 2007, as "Community Banking Week" in Pennsylvania.

Banking and Insurance Committee 03/13/07

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee met on Tuesday, March 13, 2007, and took action as follows:

Reported Out as Committed (Unanimously)

SB 222 pn 259 (Stack)  The legislation amends Section 501-A of the Insurance Department Act of 1921 to add a trend test to the definition of “company action level event” for property and casualty insurers.  The test is a mathematical formula used to provide earlier determination of when a company is approaching a company action level event. 

SB 548 pn 292 (Corman)  The Long-Term Care Partnership Program is established under the measure.  The Department of Public Welfare will administer the program.

The bill specifies that the purpose of creating a Long-Term Care Partnership Program is to reduce future Medicaid costs for long-term care by delaying or eliminating dependence on Medicaid by providing incentives for people to purchase long-term care insurance.

SB 550 pn 293 (D. White)  The bill amends the Insurance Company Law of 1921 to further provide for the regulation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield consolidations under the Insurance Holding Company Act.  The consolidation of any Blue Cross/Blue Shield parent company would fall under the oversight and review requirements of the Insurance Department.