Notes From The State Filing Desk

As we head into the holiday season, here are a couple recent news items on the topic of state filings:

CA - The Department of Insurance (CDI) has a hearing scheduled for next week on its proposal to increase filing fees for most product lines. The proposed new fees for group disability filings will more than double the current filing fees for those products. The CDI last month also announced the retirement of the assistant chief counsel who had been overseeing the Policy Approval Bureau for the last several years, and appointed attorney Leslie Tick as the acting chief.

IN - In a letter to the Interstate Compact dated October 27, 2011, Insurance Commissioner Stephen Robertson advised that the Compact’s recently adopted uniform standards for individual disability income products “do not provide sufficient protections to the citizens of Indiana” and informed the Compact that IN planned to “opt-out” of those standards. Under Interstate Compact rules, a state such as IN that has approved the Compact may still “opt-out” of the Compact for specific products. in the event of an “opt-out”, insurers would still be required to submit their product for approval by the state that opted out, instead of deeming that state approved once the compact has approved the product filing.

Interstate Compact – a Compact representative stated at last week’s annual meeting of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) that the Compact has completed the uniform standards for individual products ands will now begin development of uniform standards for group products. It is anticipated that group life will be the first product on the Compact’s docket.