

State by state variations of laws, compliance protocols, industry transparency, and general regulatory culture can lend one the impression that keeping up with industry changes is a little bit like herding cats. So, what better way to wrangle some of the more localized insurance news than in a Regulatory Roundup?
On an ongoing basis, in no particular order or rank, we’re wrestling the various regulatory changes, compliance actions, and commissioner decisions into our roundup. As a disclaimer: There’s a lot going on at any given time in these here United States, so this isn’t a comprehensive picture of state-level action by any means. Think of it as, instead, a sampler platter of regulation.
Also important to note: If we’re recapping interpretations of legal decisions, this is some armchair insurance speculation and not at all legal advice. If you need legal advice, get a lawyer.
Minnesota counters Braidwood vs. Becerra ruling on ACA with expanded preventive care law
With the ruling in Braidwood vs. Becerra limiting what health insurance carriers must mandatorily cover as preventive care services, Minnesota has taken action to protect the more expansive pre-Braidwood list of preventive care coverage.
The Braidwood vs. Becerra ruling struck down parts of the Affordable Care Act’s process for expanding and revising the list of mandatory preventive care services that insurers must cover. As a result, pending a Supreme Court decision, insurance carriers could decide to drop coverage for services that previously have been covered for a decade.
Many Minnesotans receive coverage under employer-provided plans that are governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). But those whose plans are regulated by the state will see health insurers continue to cover the same preventive care services as before, thanks to the state’s new law.
“In the complex world of health policy and insurance regulation, the Department of Commerce stays laser-focused on caring solutions that keep all Minnesotans healthy or save them money,” Commissioner Grace Arnold said in a news release. “The good news is those solutions also are products of old-fashioned Minnesota common sense. Common sense tells us, for instance, that charging for lung cancer screenings or screenings for conditions like gestational diabetes will put them out of reach for many hard-working families.”
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services partners with states for primary care innovation
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is working on an innovative care model designed to improve outcomes for patients through better coordinating a person’s primary care with their specialists as well as with local social and community well-being programs.
This program, the Making Care Primary (MCP) model, is based off previous federal efforts to coordinate primary care as well as a Maryland state program. One key component includes what CMS terms a “flexible multi-payer alignment strategy” aimed at getting better coverage and communication between paying entities when a service may have several potential layers of coverage such as state programs, Medicaid, and a health insurer.
The MCP pilot is planned to span more than a decade in this iteration, and will undergo testing in a partnership between CMS and Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Washington.
Captives gain traction, attention with legislation in Connecticut, Iowa
Captive insurance is getting more attention as states work with innovators to shore up struggling markets.
One recent development is an Iowa law, passed in early June 2023, that opens the state up to an all-new (to that state) captive insurance market, allowing businesses and industries to start their insurance pools with $250,000 to $500,000.
Connecticut also revised its captive law, now allowing captive insurers to use parametric insurance provisions. Parametric insurance is coverage that limits the insurer’s losses by assigning a set dollar value to an insured event. This allows insurers (or, in this case, insurance captives) to pay claims quickly and limit their liability.
Other state regulatory changes
Arkansas legislators voted to stop regulating prepaid legal insurance services with the repeal of the Arkansas Legal Insurance Act, according to an Arkansas Insurance Department bulletin.
California released its surplus lines export list, with Commissioner Ricardo Lara announcing that the list hasn’t changed since last year.
Delaware announced a data breach from a third-party vendor for a prominent financial company has triggered the Insurance Data Security Act. As if you needed more of a reason to work with third-party vendors that have excellent data protocols.
Idaho Director Dean Cameron has authorized people who are applying for producer licenses to simultaneously apply for temporary resident insurance producer licenses as the state’s fingerprinting and criminal background checks are seriously delayed. Temporary producer licenses last for 180 days, and allow producers to work pending the results of fingerprinting and background checks.
Indiana has launched a platform for its licensed insurers and insurance agencies to report any cybersecurity events. Any insurance business that goes through a required reporting event, such as a hack or data exposure, will need to log in and start a report.
Kentucky has issued a bulletin reminding public adjusters that they must pre-file any generic contracts they intend to use with consumers with the Department of Insurance.
Louisiana has passed a law, effective Jan. 1, 2024, to license and provide training standards for insurance producers who want to sell pet insurance. Anyone with an existing major lines license in the state can become licensed, provided the carrier gives them the proper training.
Maryland has proposed a regulation to allow the insurance commissioner to remove jurisdictions from the list of reciprocal jurisdictions the state deems acceptable for the purpose of receiving credit for reinsurance.
Nebraska has adopted legislation to make all business entity licenses (agency licenses) expire on April 30 in even-numbered years.
Nevada is warning insurance producers of a phishing scheme where scammers email producers pretending to be from the state’s Department of Insurance and demand that the producer pay extra fees via an emailed link. It’s not the Nevada DOI, don’t click the link!
New Jersey updated its continuing education guidelines, including rules on receiving CE credit as an instructor and rollover credits. To see a full view of New Jersey’s CE requirements, check out our Compliance Library jurisdiction page!
Oklahoma has passed new guidelines for annuity training requirements and directs producers to act in a consumer’s best interests when selling annuity products.
Oregon has passed new annuity training requirements as well as noting that insurers must verify a producer’s training with a certificate of completion or other similar source, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
Tennessee Department of Insurance officials opened access to the new state website for licensing and permits.
Texas has removed its subagent designation, health insurance counselor, and insurance service representative licenses, and has ended the requirement that agencies report and register each branch location.
Washington has adopted a rule requiring insurance companies to disclose premium increases – and their specific reasons for increasing them – in plain language to policyholders at renewal.
While these points of interest aren’t comprehensive, our knowledge of insurance producer and variable lines broker license and compliance maintenance is. See how AgentSync can help make you look smarter today; head over to the Compliance Library and wrastle up some state-by-state regulation and more jurisdictional updates.