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Committee reports favorably on fund consolidation for insurance exams and HSA safe-harbor bill
Summary
The committee approved rolling a small Department of Insurance service-contract fund into the special examination fund and gave a favorable report to a Senate-version safe-harbor bill for health savings accounts; the department said the service-contract fund brings in about $70,000 per year.
A legislative committee moved two insurance-related housekeeping measures forward and recorded a favorable report on a Senate-version bill addressing health savings account (HSA) safe-harbor provisions.
Ren Norman, general counsel at the insurance department, told the committee that the service contract revolving fund was created in 1997, collects approximately $70,000 a year and supports about one-half of an employee's time in the examinations division. Norman said the department's proposal would consolidate that smaller fund into the department's special examination fund to simplify bookkeeping; he said the change would not alter examination responsibilities.
Committee members had briefly questioned what the service contract fund paid for; Norman answered that fees collected from licensed service-contract providers flow into the fund and that moving those fees into the examination fund aligns them with the examiners who handle related duties.
The committee voted to give the consolidation bill a favorable report; Representative Brown moved the motion and Representative Ensler seconded. The committee recorded a favorable report on a nearly identical follow-up item the committee described as duplicative.
Separately, the committee considered a Senate version of a House bill meant to preserve HSA protections in the event of federal or state definitional changes. The presenter offered a housekeeping amendment to remove redundant definitions; the amendment passed and the measure received a favorable report.
Members were also reminded of an insurance dinner and a planned presentation by an Insurance Research Center about the state's insurance landscape.
Next steps: both the fund-consolidation bills and the HSA safe-harbor bill were reported favorably and will proceed through the legislature according to standard procedures.
