Industry Has Big Legislative Goals for 2011

Just as state lawmakers forge ahead with new legislative goals for 2011, the insurance industry, agents and their lobbyists are doing the same across much of the Northeast.

Some states have already seen and continue to see incremental but noteworthy changes — such as the newly passed terrorism exclusion for commercial insurers in Massachusetts — but in most states, several key goals remain, particularly for agents’ groups.

The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, for instance, is proposing several changes to insurance laws in the Bay State. These changes include raising the threshold for surchargeable auto accidents, prohibiting credit-based insurance scoring and adding coverage for residential oil spills.

The Delaware Association of Insurance Agents & Brokers says it’s watching the implementation of health care reform, the growth of the state’s captive market — which has doubled in the last year — and looking our for potential tax increases for small business this legislative year.

Health care reform is also a big issue for the group’s sister organizations, the Insurance Agents & Brokers (IA&B) groups in both Pennsylvania and Maryland.

IA&B of Pennsylvania said it’s also looking at raising minimum auto insurance limits and hoping to revive legislation that would extend workers’ compensation coverage for officers of a limited liability company and partners of a limited liability partnership. “The workers’ comp extension would provide increased flexibility and choice for producers and their clients,” said Frank Cosner, chairman of IA&B of Pennsylvania’s public affairs committee.

The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut also said it would like to see increased auto limits on the agenda for 2011 in the Nutmeg State. Lobbyists for the group — and its sister associations in New Jersey, New York and New Hampshire — said they are monitoring ways to reduce liability risks for agents and clarify rules around issuing certificates of insurance.

In New York — in addition to the long-running battle over compensation disclosure — insurers, agents’ groups and lawmakers continue to look at new ways to eliminate no-fault fraud. The Property Casualty Insurers’ Association of American (PCI) said New York, as well as New Jersey, will take center stage with no-fault personal injury protection reform but rampant fraud and other persistent problems will keep the issue alive and active in other states, too.

Lawsuit and tort reform — which was just recently proposed, again, in Pennsylvania –will also be major goals in 2011. “We understand the significance of lawsuit reform in fostering an environment that promotes job growth and economic development,” said Paul Blume, senior vice president of state government relations for PCI. “(We) intend to work with the business community by providing liability expertise and other tort-related knowledge to assist in achieving meaningful reforms.”