House unanimously passes insurance-code cleanup with small‑employer and parity changes

First Substitute House Bill 24, described by its sponsor as an insurance‑department cleanup, passed the Utah House on a unanimous voice vote and was recorded as receiving 70 yes votes and 0 no votes. The bill makes a series of technical changes to state insurance law and a few targeted policy adjustments and will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Dunnegan, said the measure is “primarily made up of technical changes in the insurance code” but highlighted several policy items members should note. Among them: the state’s definition of a small employer is updated to match the Affordable Care Act (moving coverage eligibility to businesses with one to 50 employees rather than two to 50); mental‑health parity language is added to conform state law with federal requirements so parity applies to small employers and individual policies; and the bill prohibits insurers from asking applicants about prior health histories in places changed by the Affordable Care Act.

Dunnegan described other provisions that adjust administrative and financial mechanics: the statute would permit the insurance department to use more of the restricted fee revenue it collects (raising the internal operating threshold toward about $8.5 million from an earlier roughly $6.5 million figure); it redirects an existing $50,000 insurer withdrawal fee (previously directed to the high‑risk pool) to the department now that the high‑risk pool is being discontinued; and it establishes a fallback interest rate for unpaid life‑insurance funds based on the two‑year Treasury constant maturity rate when no contractual rate exists.

Representative Greenwood questioned the sponsor about the retirement impact of reclassifying insurance fraud investigators. Greenwood asked whether fraud investigators are currently designated as special‑function officers and how many arrests they made last year. Dunnegan confirmed the investigators exist but said he did not know the arrest total and invited the insurance commissioner or department staff to provide those operational details.

Representative Chavez Houck expressed support for the measure and urged colleagues to use the information posted on the insurance commissioner’s website to help constituents understand the changes. Chavez Houck said the sponsor had convened an informational meeting that many members attended and called the summary on the department’s site a helpful resource.

The House recorded the vote on First Substitute H.B. 24 as 70 yes, 0 no. The bill will be transmitted to the Senate for its consideration.