For Immediate Release
November 20, 2017
Contact: Paul Penna
(732) 201-4133
SUCCESSFUL 2017 NCOIL ANNUAL MEETING IN PHOENIX CONCLUDES
Organization Changes Name but Not Acronym, Sen. Rapert Assumes Presidency, Congressman David Schweikert Delivered Keynote Address, and all Policy Committees Met and Discussed a Variety of Issues and Adopted or re-adopted Model Laws and Resolutions
Manasquan, NJ – The 2017 NCOIL Annual Meeting at the Phoenix Grand Sheraton met from November 16th to 19th. There were 278 registrants, 55 legislators from 24 states, including 10 first time legislators, and 8 total Insurance Departments represented. This represents a continued growth among participants.
The Nominating Committee met and selected the officer slate for 2017-2018 of Arkansas Sen. Jason Rapert to serve as President, Vermont Rep. Bill Botzow as Vice-President, Indiana Rep. Matt Lehman will remain as Treasurer and California Asm. Kenneth Cooley was elected to serve as Secretary. Kentucky Rep. Steve Riggs and Indiana Sen. Travis Holdman will serve as Immediate Past Presidents.
“It has been an honor to serve as NCOIL’s President for the past year and I look forward to working with Sen. Rapert as he assumes the NCOIL presidency” said Rep. Riggs. “During my term I worked diligently to formalize a recruitment process that has proven to be successful in increasing participation among insurance legislators and new states. For nearly 50 years NCOIL has been the only insurance legislators’ organization that educates our colleagues and writes insurance model laws and I am proud of the part I played to continue that.”
“I am excited to assume the NCOIL Presidency and look forward to continuing to increase state legislator participation around the nation. Our organization has been a leader in educating policymakers to make informed insurance policy decisions that protect consumers and ensure a vibrant insurance marketplace in every state” said Sen. Rapert. “Rep. Riggs has done an outstanding job as President and I look forward to his counsel as Immediate Past President.”
Rep. Riggs made a recommendation to the Articles of Organization and Bylaws Committee to replace “Conference” with “Council” believing it more accurately reflected the 50 member states of NCOIL. It passed unanimously, with a number of members noting that the organization will still commonly be known as NCOIL.
“NCOIL continues to educate legislators and policymakers about emerging and continual insurance matters to increasing numbers of legislators and participants” said Commissioner Tom Considine, NCOIL CEO. “The leadership has been encouraging in ensuring policy matters are handled in a timely fashion so we can discuss the ever changing insurance policy environment.”
Congressman David Schweikert delivered a fascinating keynote address about tax and regulatory reform efforts. As a member of the Ways & Means Committee, he has been an instrumental player in these efforts. He also discussed his efforts with the Blockchain Caucus to protect data so all aspects of it can be electronic and portable.
The Financial Services Committee re-adopted the Credit Default Insurance Model Legislation; adopted a Model Act to Support State Regulation of Insurance by Requiring Competition Among Insurance Rating Agencies; adopted a Model Act Prohibiting Consumer Reporting Agencies from Charging Fees Related to Security Freezes; amended the NCOIL Credit Report Protection for Minors Model Act; and adopted a Resolution Encouraging the Adoption of Voluntary Data Call Principles.
The Joint State-Federal Relations and International Insurance Issues Committee re-adopted the Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies Model Legislation and Producer Compensation Disclosure Model Amendment to the Producer Licensing Model Act
The Health, Long-Term Care & Health Retirement Issues Committee adopted the NCOIL Out-of-Network Balance Billing Transparency Model Act and the Model Act Regarding Air Ambulance Insurance Claims
Other highlights of the NCOIL Annual Meeting included:
• An overview of the NAIC accreditation process by NAIC General Counsel Kay Noonan
• Recap of the 2017 NCOIL DC Education Fly-In
• Resolutions honoring the lives of the late NH Rep. Don Flanders and AR Sen. Greg Standridge
• General Session titled “A Restatement or NEWstatement? – Examining the ALI’s Proposed Restatement of the Law on Liability Insurance”
• General Session on the risks facing the long term care insurance industry
• General Session examining cybersecurity in the wake of the Equifax breach
• The Life Insurance and Financial Planning Committee examined innovative trends shaping the life insurance industry; received an update about Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (IIPRC) developments; and discussed the recently promulgated New York regulations concerning notification requirements before an adverse change in non-guaranteed elements of existing policies.
• The Property & Casualty Insurance Committee discussed adoption of a Model Towing Act and amendments to the NCOIL Model State Uniform Building Code. The committee will continue discussion on those topics at the NCOIL Spring Meeting. The committee also discussed flood insurance market developments including the impact of the recent hurricanes on insurers and policyholders.
• The Joint State-Federal Relations and International Insurance Issues Committee discussed the road ahead for the U.S. insurance system in light of the Covered Agreement; the future of SIFI designations; Federal insurance fraud prevention efforts; and Congressman Sean Duffy’s legislation (H.R. 3762, H.R. 3746, H.R. 3861) that aims to reassert the state based system of insurance regulation.
• The NCOIL – NAIC Dialogue discussed the NAIC Insurance Data Security Model Law; the NAIC & Stanford University Cybersecurity Forum; NAIC group capital calculation activities; NAIC InsureU Usage Based Insurance (UBI) activities; President Trump’s Healthcare Executive Order; and the cancellation of Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments.
• The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Committee discussed the impact of direct dispense programs on state workers’ compensation systems, and the prevalence of compound medications in the workers’ compensation insurance industry.
• The Health, Long-Term Care and Health Retirement Issues Committee discussed President Trump’s Executive Order on healthcare and what its impact on State healthcare markets will be. Additionally, the Committee passed two significant new reform bills: a Model Act Regarding Air Ambulance Insurance Claims, and an Out-of-Network Balance Billing Transparency Model Act
• Uber hosted autonomous car rides in Scottsdale for legislators and other participants. More than 40 people participated in the 20 minute ride around the streets of Scottsdale in an autonomous vehicle.
• Arizona Representative David Livingston hosted a state capitol tour for 19 legislators and attendees.
The 2018 NCOIL Spring Meeting will be held in Atlanta, GA from March 2nd -4th at the Whitley in Buckhead. Registration and sponsorship information will be available at ncoil.org in December.
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NCOIL is a legislative organization comprised principally of legislators serving on state insurance and financial institutions committees around the nation. NCOIL writes Model Laws in insurance, works to both preserve the state jurisdiction over insurance as established by the McCarran-Ferguson Act seventy years ago and to serve as an educational forum for public policy makers and interested parties. Founded in 1969, NCOIL works to assert the prerogative of legislators in making state policy when it comes to insurance and educate state legislators on current and perennial insurance issues.