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- LEG REG REVIEW
- 2004, Eleventh
Issue
-
- LEG REG REVIEW is a periodic newsletter produced by PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES,
a professional lobbying and consultant firm based near the State
Capitol. It contains
news on the Legislative and Regulatory scene in Pennsylvania that
may be of use to insurance producers, companies, and interested
parties. It is a free
Member Service if you are a member of the Pennsylvania Association
of Health Underwriters (PAHU) or the PA Surplus Lines Association (PSLA).
Subscription information may be obtained by contacting
PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES at 717/728-1217, Fax 717/728-1164 or E-mail to xenobun@aol.com.
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- IMPORTANT NOTICE TO LEG-REG RECIPIENTS
-
- Conversion to email
distribution of the Leg-Reg Review should take place by late
May unless you have asked us specifically to keep you in a faxed
format. Please email jtrout2792@aol.com
supplying both your fax number and your desired email address.
If you do not wish to receive this publication, please let us
know and we will delete your name from our distribution list.
(NOTE: PAHU and PSLA members receive this as a free member
service.)
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- HIPAA
DEADLINE LOOMS
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- April 14
is the deadline for small employer compliance with the Health
Information Privacy Rule under the HIPAA law.
This means that human resource managers should have
ascertained applicable employee health information and compliance
requirements. Insurance producers may have a responsibility to make sure
that their business clients are aware of HIPAA.
Case law through cases brought before the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission will tend to bring an operational definition
to the insurance producer’s ultimate responsibility.
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- Please note
these resources:
- The
National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) has a privacy
guide available at www.nahu.org.
The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors
(NAIFA) also have a guide available but only to members (www.naifa.org). In addition, the April 29 Central PA I Day have an
attorney-led component focusing on HIPAA compliance.
The seminar will be held at the Penn Harris Radisson in Camp
Hill. I Day Details: Margaret-Lee Williams 800/761-1882.
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- LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
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- ·
Auto
tort bill HB 1458 (Veon-D-Beaver) was not voted on by the full House
as listed on last week’s House calendar.
This bill would have changed “limited tort” auto
insurance to “limited right to sue” auto insurance and presumed
a consumer desire for full tort.
Backed by the trial lawyers, it faced strong opposition by
insurance groups.
- ·
HB
2299 (Payne-R-Dauphin) was deferred by the House Health and Human
Services Committee until at least April 13 because of additional
time needed to review the bill’s proposed amendments to require
community rating and to make HB 2299 line up more precisely with
Federal H S A legislative tax incentive rules.
- ·
The
Governor and the General Assembly both saw success with passage of
SB 10 and SB 1026 as a major new economic development initiative
that among other things provides for major new state bonding and
business loan programs. Resolution
of the slots issue remained elusive with differences on gambling
interests paying a fee to the state versus having a high bidder
auction.
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- PATIENT SAFETY HEARINGS PLANNED
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- The House
Insurance Committee plans hearings April 21 and 22 on patient safety
and the Mcare program. On
April 21, the Medical Licensing Board will appear to discuss how Act
13 of 2002 (The Medical Care Availability and Accountability Act)
has affected physician reporting of alleged medical malpractice and
how disciplinary requirements have been implemented.
The second hearing involves a presentation by the Patient
Safety Authority as to their patient safety initiatives.
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- LABOR RELATIONS TO CONSIDER WC COMPARISON STUDY
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- The House
Labor Relations Committee will consider HR 660 (Godshall-R-Montgomery)
directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a
study comparing Pennsylvania’s Worker Compensation system with
those of neighboring states. This
may be particularly important in that it may include analysis of
state Worker Compensation monopoly states and contrast their costs
versus PA’s.
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- OF POSSIBLE INTEREST…
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- ·
The
PA Health Department announced that it is proposing to use Federal
monies to aid income-eligible families with lead paint abatement for
certain PA cities lying within flood plains.
These cities are Harrisburg, Scranton, Johnstown, and York.
Details: Cynthia Dundas 717/783-8451.
Information on Federal floodplain management is available
from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Karen Choi
213/894-8000.
- ·
SwissRe
is seeking to acquire Valley Forge Insurance Company.
- ·
Provident
Indemnity Life Insurance Company is voluntarily relinquishing its
Certificate of Authority.
- ·
The
MIB Life Index reports that life insurance applications in the U.S.
declined 5.3% from last January to January 2004.
This was a 12.5% drop over a two-year period.
- ·
Weiss
Ratings reported that P/C insurer earnings climbed 112% in the first
nine months of 2003 over the same period in 2002.
This translates into $ 12.1 billion in 2003 versus 2002’s $
10.8 billion.
- ·
A
survey by Robert Half Management Resources suggests that two areas
of vulnerability cited by CFOs are disaster recovery and security of
information systems.
- ·
Effective
March 27 was a Worker’s Compensation Bureau statement of policy
governing the certification of vocational safety experts.
This implements Act 53 of 2003, a piece of legislation
restoring L&I’s ability to credential these experts.
This authority had been struck down in a Supreme Court
ruling.
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