Senate panel backs bill to modernize insurer data calls, remove emergency clause

Senate Industry and Business Committee members voted to amend and give a due-pass recommendation to Senate Bill 2124, a measure that would modernize the North Dakota Insurance Department’s authority to collect insurer data and permit coordinated, multistate data calls through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

The bill’s sponsor and the department argued the changes are intended to let North Dakota participate in NAIC’s Market Conduct Annual Statement (MCAS) process, protect confidentiality of carrier data, and permit public release of aggregated, anonymized market information.

John Arnold, deputy insurance commissioner, told the committee the department seeks to “modernize the commissioner’s data call authority and to allow for coordinating data calls with other states to better understand the insurance sector.” Arnold said current law — citing response deadlines in a statutory provision that requires companies to answer inquiries within 20 days — lacks the same confidentiality protections available during…