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Committee backs bill giving superintendent of insurance subpoena authority before formal notice
Summary
Senate Bill 124 would allow the state superintendent of insurance to issue subpoenas before issuing a notice of contemplated action, the superintendent said the power is needed to investigate noncooperative insurers; the committee forwarded the bill with a do-pass recommendation.
Senate Bill 124 would grant the New Mexico Superintendent of Insurance limited subpoena authority to collect records needed to decide whether to issue a notice of contemplated action against insurers, the superintendent told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"We really feel our hands have been tied," Alice Kane, Superintendent of Insurance, said. Kane told the committee insurance companies sometimes decline to provide records the department needs to investigate nonrenewals, rate-setting or other regulatory concerns and that subpoena authority prior to a formal notice would let the office determine whether a hearing should proceed.
Kane said the office is already able to obtain actuarial and Patient Compensation Fund (PCF) data for some matters but that a subpoena would be necessary when insurers decline to comply. "We can't subpoena records," she said, "and sometimes they tell us it's too burdensome or they just won't do it."
The committee heard brief questions about delegation language that had been removed in an earlier committee—lawmakers said they removed authority to delegate subpoena power to staff in the rules committee and retained the power for the superintendent herself.
With no registered opposition and no further questions, Senator Woods moved a do-pass recommendation. The committee chair announced no objection and recorded a do-pass recommendation for SB 124.
