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Senate committee advances HB1274 with auto-insurance rebate and surprise-ambulance protections
Summary
The Georgia Senate Insurance Committee advanced HB1274 after adopting amendments that extended its look-back period for an auto-insurer rebate and added technical corrections; the omnibus bill also includes an ambulance surprise-billing provision and requirements to help policyholders find unclaimed life-insurance funds.
Representative Reeves presented HB1274 to the Senate Insurance Committee, telling members the substitute packages several provisions intended to make insurance more affordable. "Auto insurance, we got 9,100,000 drivers. This will provide some relief to them," Reeves said, describing a Florida-style rebate structure with a 5-year lookback and a 6% threshold and an effective date of Jan. 1, 2028.
The bill would require insurers to return excess profits to customers when anticipated profit line items exceed set thresholds for consecutive years, require rebates to be paid within 60 days of a final order by the Department of Insurance, and clarify that commissions and premium taxes are not altered by rebates. Reeves also described separate sections covering surprise ambulance billing protections and provisions directing insurers to search for unclaimed life-insurance beneficiary funds and to provide a standardized policyholder authorization form on the Department of Insurance website by Jan. 1, 2027.
Several senators raised process objections to the package. Senator Merritt said he had received substituted language only hours before the hearing and asked for more time to vet the roughly 20-page substitute. "It is not fair that all of us do not have proper time to vet these bills," Merritt said. Committee members nevertheless debated and adopted a technical amendment to change timing language in the rate-review provision to match the bill—s new five-year lookback.
A motion to advance the bill was moved and seconded; the committee approved the bill as amended. The transcript records the approval of the amendment with one senator opposed and a subsequent committee vote to advance the bill, but a full roll-call tally is not recorded in the transcript.
Supporters argued the rebate mechanism would encourage more accurate rate filings and reduce long-term costs for motorists; supporters also framed the ambulance-billing language as targeted consumer protection for areas where ambulances travel long distances to hospitals. Opponents and some committee members urged additional time to vet the substitute and to ensure confidentiality language for rate-review materials was properly placed so the insurance commissioner can review confidential filings without making them public.
The committee advanced HB1274 as amended; next steps include transmission to the House (per the transcript discussion) and further consideration by the chamber(s) named in the bill text.
