Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Insurance Regulation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kansas Committee on Insurance receives bill introductions, schedules OptumRx visit
Summary
The Kansas Committee on Insurance heard eight bills from the Kansas Department of Insurance and one request from the American Council of Life Insurers; all measures were submitted for drafting with no objections. The committee also scheduled a field visit to OptumRx in Overland Park next Friday.
The Kansas Committee on Insurance, chaired by Representative Bill Sutton, heard requests to draft nine insurance-related bills and set a field visit to OptumRx in Overland Park.
Eric Turek, director of government affairs for the Kansas Department of Insurance, told the committee that “the department has 8 bills for introduction today,” and read brief summaries of each. Committee members raised no objections; the chair submitted each for drafting. Travis Grauerholz, appearing for the American Council of Life Insurers, requested a separate draft on travel insurance and the request was also submitted.
Why it matters: The measures address licensing, enforcement parity, reporting and audit rules, fiduciary protections for third-party administrators, and a proposed state system to verify auto insurance in real time — all topics that affect insurers, producers, consumers and claim processes across Kansas.
The department’s items (by reference number and the committee summaries presented): RS 0036 — would give the insurance commissioner discretion to lower certain fees and eliminate the insurance agent appointment renewal fee; RS 0159 — would reduce appointed membership on regulatory boards under the commissioner’s jurisdiction; RS 0187 — would change the department’s definition of "person" in insurer enforcement statutes and repeal certain reports to the governor; RS 0125 — would shorten time frames for insurer and agent responses to consumer complaints and extend a value-added service pilot program; RS 0190 — would align producer and public adjuster licensing statutes for enforcement parity; RS 0196 — would make title insurance annual audits available on request rather than kept on file with the department and standardize surety bonds for title agents statewide; RS 0223 — would require third-party administrators to maintain separate fiduciary accounts per payer and notify the department in the event of bankruptcy filings; and RS 0325 — would create a state real-time verification system for auto insurance.
Travis Grauerholz, vice president of government affairs (representing the American Council of Life Insurers), requested RS 0343, “a bill relating to travel insurance,” described by Grauerholz as authorizing insurers to file certain travel insurance policies under Accident and Health. The committee submitted that request for drafting after no members objected.
Votes at a glance: Each introduced request was submitted for drafting by unanimous consent (no roll-call votes were recorded in the transcript). The committee did not take recorded votes; the chair repeatedly noted there were no objections and submitted the measures.
Other business: The committee agreed to a field trip to visit OptumRx in Overland Park at 10 a.m. next Friday to learn about mail-order prescription operations; maps and a sign-up sheet were provided to committee members. The committee’s next regular meeting was noted for Wednesday at the usual time and location.
The meeting record shows introductions, committee member and staff roll call, and no formal amendments or recorded votes on the introduced drafts. Several members introduced themselves at the start of the meeting; substantive discussion was limited to bill introductions and the planned site visit.
