Joe Valente, director of policy at the Department of Financial Regulation, briefed the committee on the insurance provisions in H.648 and answered a question about appeals for restitution awards. Valente said that if the commissioner orders a restitution award forfeited for fraud or deceit, the individual may appeal to the Superior Court of Washington County.

On substantive code edits, Valente said section 44 would allow mutual insurance holding companies to use 'mutual' in their names; Vermont currently has four mutual insurance holding companies. Section 45 codifies quarterly-statement filing requirements that NAIC recommended during DFR’s recent accreditation review (Valente emphasized this was a suggestion, not a remedial finding).

Valente also proposed amending an older group-life provision so that dependent coverage eligibility is based on participation rather than on enumerating employees with eligible dependents. The bill would permit dependents to be covered if at least 75% of eligible employees elect to make the required contribution, removing an impractical data requirement dating to 1993.

Finally, Valente said the bill explicitly adds race, religion and national origin to the insurance unfair or deceptive acts or practices statute to align the statute with DFR’s current internal practices.

Why it matters: these changes are technical but affect consumer protections, company naming and filing duties. Committee members did not take votes during the morning session; the committee plans further review.