Senate Insurance & Commerce committee trims some statutory reports, keeps core annual oversight

The Senate Insurance & Commerce Committee reviewed a package of reports from the Arkansas Insurance Department on Wednesday and, by unanimous consent in most cases, removed some reporting requirements, retained others and instructed the department to produce overdue material for a 2021 law.

Committee members approved removing the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace report from statute after department officials said the marketplace was folded under the Insurance Department and user fees that formerly funded the marketplace ceased. "We suggest removing that report. It is not one that is necessary for the department to do anymore," Insurance Commissioner Alan McLean said.

The committee also voted to remove an annual review of the Arkansas workers' compensation insurance plan but retained a separate comprehensive performance-review requirement for the state residual workers' compensation market administered by NCCI (the National Council on Compensation Insurance). The committee kept the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative report as well and asked the department to continue providing a robust annual report that aggregates several units' material.

The department told the committee the marketplace previously collected a per-policy user fee that funded AHIM operations; those fees stopped when the marketplace functions were moved under the Insurance Department (AID). Deputy Commissioner Jimmy Harris said the fund once supported higher operating costs — "there was an expense charge on every policy that was…