Senate committee adopts technical and policy amendments to omnibus insurance bill, forwards SF 2216 to finance

The Minnesota Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee on April 10, 2025, adopted multiple technical and policy amendments to Senate File 2216 and recommended the bill as amended be referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

The committee chair convened the meeting and opened consideration of Senate File 2216; Senator Klein offered a package of amendments described as a set of “small policy adjustments” that he said were "non controversial and agreed upon by all parties." The panel worked through individual amendments offered by multiple senators, adopted most by voice vote, and recorded several withdrawals and one failed motion.

Why it matters: SF 2216 is an omnibus Commerce Committee vehicle that touches insurance market rules, consumer protections for homeowners associations (HOAs), surplus-lines eligibility for homeowners, some telecommunications transition language and appropriations tied to cannabis taxes; changes approved in committee will shape negotiations in finance and on the Senate floor.

Most significant actions and debate

Medigap (Medicare supplement) rules: Committee counsel and panel speakers described multiple technical edits in the A28 amendment affecting Medicare supplement (Medigap) language, including reformatting language at the reviser’s request and aligning application/fee language. Senator Ron Rasmussen (Senator Rasmussen) pressed whether language in the amendment would allow the Department of Commerce to set the late-enrollment penalty below 10 percent; Department staff (Mr. Hidalgo) answered directly: "Yes, your reading is correct. It would allow them to set at a rate lower than 10%." Rasmussen said he had planned an amendment because "we're hearing estimates that having at the 10% could increase premiums up to 90% for these Minnesotans." Several amendments about the 62J mandate-review process and a later A18 addressing Medigap were discussed and then withdrawn after authors and the bill…