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Senate hearing weighs bill to penalize insurers for misleading rate filings, members press due‑process questions
Summary
A state Senate committee heard SB364, which would let the insurance commissioner order refunds and levy penalties up to 10 times improperly collected premiums when filings are found knowingly false; members pressed the sponsor on definitions of willfulness and whether existing commissioner powers and due process protections are sufficient.
The Senate Insurance and Labor Committee on a hearing-only considered SB364 (LC461237), a bill that would strengthen oversight of insurer rate filings and allow the insurance commissioner to order refunds to policyholders and impose penalties up to 10 times improperly collected amounts when filings are found to be knowingly false or misleading.
The sponsor told the committee that families and small businesses are facing ‘‘nuclear premiums,’’ and that the bill is ‘‘not an anti‑insurance bill. This is a pro‑transparency bill, honestly.’’ He said the change would ensure companies ‘‘give us honest numbers before rates go up,’’ and that the proposed multiplier is meant as a deterrent for deliberate wrongdoing.
Supporters framed the measure as a consumer‑protection tool aimed at preventing inflated rates based on false data. The…
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