Col. Committee Kills Auto Choice Bill
The House Appropriations Committee killed House Bill 1351 April 2, which would have given consumers the option of remaining under Colorado’s no-fault auto insurance system or returning to the tort system.
“The committee’s rejection of the auto choice bill is unfortunate for consumers,” National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) Northwest Regional Manager Michael Harrold, said. “Colorado’s no-fault law very much needs a major overhaul and HB 1351 would have been a significant step in remedying a situation that has seen auto insurance rates in Colorado remain 12th or 13th highest in the nation in recent years.”
The present no-fault law will sunset June 30 unless it is extended by some other legislation during the current session.
In other legislative action:
The Senate passed HB 1135, which would convert Pinnacol, the state’s workers’ compensation fund, to a modified domestic mutual insurance company. The bill was amended in the Senate to require that investment supervision stay with the State Treasurer for the foreseeable future and also to prohibit Pinnacol from acquiring or controlling any other insurer or writing any type of insurance other than workers’ comp. The Senate passed the amended bill April 1 and sent it back to the House for concurrence in the amendments.
The House for the past several days has put off taking any action on concurrence in Senate amendments to HB 1305, which would apply existing medical fraud standards to Personal Injury Protection (PIP) payments under the no-fault law.
The House passed Senate Bill 6, which presumes that public safety workers who test positive for hepatitis C contracted the disease on the job. The bill was amended in the House to add timelines for reporting an exposure and other responsibilities for employees who claim they contracted Hepatitis C on the job.
Gov. Bill Owens signed HB 1121, an NAII-sponsored bill that will permit auto insurance disclosures to be given after issuance of a binder but prior to issuance of an insurance policy.