P&C Legislative Round-Up: May 2020

Here are the key legislative developments from around the U.S., including the most bills responding to COVID-19.

News from California, Kentucky, Virginia as well as the state and federal bills enacted in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: Bigstock)

Editor’s Note: At the start of each month, we publish insurance legislative and regulatory news and updates from around the nation.

National updates

U.S. House Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced a bill that would expand COBRA, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act program, to help workers keep their employer-based health insurance plans even if they lose their jobs or are furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump signed a new relief package to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, which was established in the CARES Act. The emergency package includes $320 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for COVID-19 testing.

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) introduced the bipartisan Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Act of 2020 that would ensure businesses that purchase interruption insurance won’t get their claims denied because of a crisis, such as the coronavirus pandemic. “I have heard from many local businesses in my district who are getting denied and are worried about making necessary expenses, like payroll or rent, during the Coronavirus pandemic. That’s why I introduced the Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Act, a solution to future forced closures to help small business owners and their employees. Forced closures shouldn’t mean the end of the local businesses that power our economy,” Thompson said in a statement.

New legislation was introduced in the House that would make legal cannabis businesses eligible for federal coronavirus relief aid meant to small businesses.

Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) will introduce the COVID-19 Racial Disparities Task Force Act on May 4, Buzzfeed reported. The bill would require the director of Secretary of Health and Human Services to assemble a task force to address the racial disparity plaguing communities of color amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

State updates

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order 123 that extends grace periods during which certain insurance companies, including health insurers, life insurers, and property and casualty insurers, will not be able to cancel policies for nonpayment of premiums.

HB 199, also known as the Insured Homeowners Protection Act, was signed into law in Utah. The bill prohibits contractors from offering rebates of the insured’s deductible to induce the sale of a good or service.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a Notice to remind insurance companies, agents, and employers that California law requires the payment of workers’ compensation benefits to injured workers regardless of their immigration status.

Officials with California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) have announced they will pay for medical costs and lost income for employees at essential businesses who contract COVID-19, regardless of whether or not they caught the virus at work.

Kentucky signed HB 313 that makes reporting insurance fraud easier by increasing confidentiality protections for reporting suspected fraud and granting the National Insurance Crime Bureau specific immunity. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

SB 262 was signed into law in Kentucky, creating the coal workers’ pneumoconiosis fund.

Senate Bill 7181 in New York also grants immunity to those who provide fraud information to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

A 103011 was introduced to the New York Assembly. The bill would allow insurance companies to offer an auto policy discount to drivers trained to operate an authorized emergency vehicle.

Alaska’s newly-passed SB 195 amends the election of a domestic insurer’s board by stating “directors must be elected [from and by the members or stockholders of a domestic insurer except as provided in AS 21.69.350} at the time and place, and for the terms, not exceeding three years, [as may be] provided in a domestic [the] insurer’s bylaws.”

Virginia signed HB 1442 into law that amends the use of photo speed monitoring devices. The abstract states that the bill “Authorizes state and local law-enforcement agencies to operate photo speed monitoring devices, defined in the bill, in or around school crossing zones and highway work zones for the purpose of recording images of vehicles that are traveling at speeds of at least 10 miles per hour above the posted school crossing zone or highway work zone speed limit within such school crossing zone or highway work zone when such zone is indicated by conspicuously placed signs displaying the maximum speed limit and that such photo speed monitoring devices are used in the area.”

SB 1845 passed the Virginia House and is awaiting the governor’s approval. The bill would allow authorized nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospice programs, and hospice facility employees and staff members to possess, distribute, or administer cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil to a resident who has been issued a valid written certification for such medication.

In April, several states enacted new legislation in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19), including:

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