Category: Government Relations/Policy

We wanted to bring your attention today to a new client alert two of our Insurance practice colleagues have written highlighting Florida’s recent tort reform bill and its impact on insurance litigation.

On March 24, 2023, a sweeping tort reform bill was signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. House Bill 837 was touted by DeSantis as being designed to reduce frivolous lawsuits and prevent predatory practices of trial attorneys. Notably, the bill will have a significant impact on insurance litigation as it modifies the bad faith framework, eliminates one-way attorneys’ fees, shortens the statute of limitations for negligence claims and changes the comparative negligence standard.

Continue reading “The Impact of Florida’s Tort Reform Bill on Insurance Litigation”

NAIC’s Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) Task Force recently adopted a revised checklist for regulators to use when drafting and reviewing LTCI reduced benefit options (RBO) policyholder communications. The checklist is meant to provide regulatory guidance only (i.e. does not carry the weight of law) and can be used with the RBO Communication Principles. Following the most recent exposure, the task force established a drafting group made up of consumer groups and regulators from California, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia. The drafting group incorporated some changes in response to stakeholder feedback – those changes are highlighted in Attachment Two of the Meeting Materials.

Fred Andersen (MN) provided an update on industry trends in light of regulators’ review of year-end 2021 reserve adequacy filings. Here were the main takeaways from Andersen’s report:

Continue reading “NAIC LTCI Task Force Adopts Revised RBO Checklist, Receives Update on Industry Trends”

In a December 2022 bulletin published by the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HHS made clear that the use of third-party tracking technologies by covered entities and business associates is subject to HIPAA privacy and security rules. The use of tracking technologies developed by third-party vendors is increasingly common, and much of the LTCi industry is subject to HIPAA privacy and security rules as either covered entities or business associates. HHS noted in the bulletin that covered entities and business associates “are not permitted to use tracking technologies in a manner that would result in impermissible disclosures of [protected health information (“PHI”)] to tracking technology vendors or any other violations of the HIPAA Rules.” And, as applied to the use of tracking technologies, HHS’s view of what constitutes PHI may be broader than expected.

What Are Tracking Technologies?

Tracking technologies (including cookies, pixels, and other similar technologies) collect information about individuals who interact with an entity’s website or mobile application (“mobile app”). Businesses use a variety of tracking technologies on websites and mobile apps to improve functionality and learn more about users’ activities. Tracking technologies developed by third parties generally involve the sharing of data back to that third party, so when a HIPAA-covered entity or business associate uses these tracking technologies, they must be cognizant of what data is being shared, to who, and for what purpose.

Continue reading “HIPAA Regulation of Online Tracking Technologies”

Election outcomes affect every industry. Insurance, however, is unique in the range of elected policymakers who can impact it directly — insurance commissioners, governors and Congress (not to mention state legislatures and other statewide officials). So as insurance stakeholders settle in the night of November 8 with popcorn and other traditional fare, what are our “ones to watch?”

Continue reading “Election Night for Insurance Geeks: November 2022”

On Wednesday, June 22, the Senate Finance Committee advanced the Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act, including an amendment containing retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s Long-Term Care Affordability Act. The Amendment would allow people to use up to $2,000 per year in 401(k) assets to pay for their LTCi premiums. The Amendment aims to promote a more viable LTCi marketplace by increasing participation, as the use of 401(k) funds would expand the asset pool available to pay premiums. The bill would apply to “eligible retirement plans,” defined as a qualified retirement plan that is a defined contribution plan, a section 403(a) annuity plan, a section 403(b) plan, a governmental section 457(b) plan, or an IRA. The qualifying coverage may be for the individual or the individual’s spouse or dependent. Distributions for the purpose of LTCi premiums would be exempt from the additional 10% tax on the amount of the distribution.

Continue reading “Senate Finance Committee Advances EARN Act in Effort to Expand Retirement”