Bill would remove certain entities from insurance 'person' definition and consolidate reporting; Department cites cleanup and deregulatory changes

The Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee on Feb. 25 heard House Bill 2,048, a housekeeping bill that would remove certain specific entities from the insurance code’s definition of “person” and eliminate the requirement that the Commissioner submit two separate printed reports to the governor.

Eric Turek of the Kansas Department of Insurance told the committee the statute has been revised repeatedly in recent years as new entities were created or as regulatory authority moved. “The main purpose of removing a lot of these individual entities is in the case of deregulation or transferring of the authority to regulate to other entities. We don't constantly have to visit the statute when there are changes made to that,” Turek said. He cited automobile clubs and utilization review organizations as examples of entities that are no longer regulated by the department or that were not originally included in the definition.

The reviser noted the bill clean‑ups include striking obsolete entities and clarifying that reports the commissioner already posts online will satisfy statutory notice requirements. The House Committee of the Whole previously reported the bill on Feb. 5 by a vote of 105 to 12, committee testimony said.

Committee members confirmed they have revisited the definition in prior sessions and asked a few clarifying questions; the department and reviser said the changes are intended to reduce the need for frequent fixes as the statutory landscape changes. No opponent or neutral testimony was offered at the hearing, and the committee closed the hearing without taking a committee vote.