In the News
Regulatory Update

• April 2019
• 

Auto: A Nevada court has ruled Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Group is insolvent and has placed the company into receivership.

The Eighth Judicial Circuit Court of Nevada found the Las Vegas-based commercial automobile liability insurer was unable to pay all of its policy claims, requiring the appointment of a receiver to administer the company's affairs, according to court records on its web site.

Spirit's insurance policies will be canceled no later than April 15, it said.

The court appointed Nevada Insurance Commissioner Barbara Richardson permanent receiver and Cantilo &Bennett of Austin, Texas, the special deputy receiver.

The receivership records also said the company is barred from writing any new business.

Health Insurance: The Washington state House of Representatives has passed legislation that would restrict out-of-network health care providers from balance-billing consumers.

By a vote of 84-13, the house passed the measure, requested by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. It now is in the state senate Health and Long Term Care Committee, which passed a similar bill out of committee unanimously earlier this session, Kreidler's office said in a statement.

The department has heard from hundreds of consumers who received a surprise bill from an out-of-network provider despite seeking treatment from an in-network hospital or surgical facility. In many of those cases, the bills totaled thousands of dollars, it said.

Health Insurance: The North Dakota House of Representatives has passed a bill to create an “invisible” reinsurance pool for the individual health insurance market. Invisible reinsurance is expected to make the state's individual market more attractive to carriers. It also would allow enrollees to remain in the individual market with their current plan and carrier, but with part of their claims being reimbursed by the reinsurance pool, which would be funded with federal funds and assessments placed on companies selling in North Dakota's health insurance market.

The idea, according to the state insurance department, is to create an affordable option for healthier individuals who have chosen not to buy health insurance in the past and to inject healthier risk into the single risk pool.

Flood Insurance: The number of private flood insurance policies in Pennsylvania grew by 72% over the past year, according to the state insurance department. Homeowners had 8,950 private flood insurance policies as of February of 2019, compared with about 5,200 in February, 2018, the department said in a statement. Twenty Pennsylvania-licensed insurance companies sell private flood insurance, in addition to 59 individual surplus lines producers, the statement said.