| Date of Action |
Assembly Actions -
Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE |
|---|---|
| Jan 06, 2010 |
referred to insurance |
| Apr 23, 2009 |
referred to insurance |
Senate Bill S4444
2009-2010 Legislative Session
Sponsored By
(D) Senate District
Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Insurance Committee
Actions
2009-S4444 (ACTIVE) - Details
2009-S4444 (ACTIVE) - Summary
Creates the office of insurance consumer advocate within the department of insurance; office to consist of five members; describes powers and duties; such office to be funded by an assessment upon domestic insurers and licensed U.S. branches of alien insurers domiciled in NYS.
2009-S4444 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo
BILL NUMBER: S4444
TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to establishing the
office of insurance consumer advocate within the insurance department
and describing its powers and duties
SUMMARY :
The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 210-b to create
the Office of Insurance Consumer Advocate. The duties of such will
include, but not be limited to: review of rate applications;
participation in public hearings; and review and recommend legislation
related to improving the insurance process for consumers.
JUSTIFICATION :
On April 7, 1986 a report of the Governor's Advisory Commission on
Liability Insurance, "INSURING OUR FUTURE" -commonly known as the
Jones Commission Report- embraced the idea of creating an Office of
Insurance Consumer Advocate. The report stated that, "Although the
Insurance Department generally attends to the interests of insurance
consumers, there is no New York State appointee who is exclusively
charged with that task of representing consumer interests with respect
to insurance matters." The report continues by stressing that the
ratemaking process cannot be completely fair unless "a named
individual is designated to represent this interest (consumer) and is
2009-S4444 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4444
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
April 23, 2009
___________
Introduced by Sen. KRUGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to establishing the
office of insurance consumer advocate within the insurance department
and describing its powers and duties
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 210-b
to read as follows:
S 210-B. OFFICE OF INSURANCE CONSUMER ADVOCATE. (A) THERE IS HEREBY
CREATED WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT THE OFFICE OF INSURANCE CONSUMER ADVOCATE,
HEREAFTER REFERRED TO IN THIS SECTION AS THE OFFICE. SUCH OFFICE SHALL
CONSIST OF FIVE MEMBERS, THREE OF WHOM SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE EXECU-
TIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION BOARD AND TWO OF WHOM SHALL BE
APPOINTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT. MEMBERS OF THE OFFICE SHALL RECEIVE NO
COMPENSATION FOR THEIR SERVICES AS MEMBERS, BUT SHALL BE ALLOWED THEIR
ACTUAL AND NECESSARY EXPENSES INCURRED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR
DUTIES.
(B) THE OFFICE, TOGETHER WITH THE CONSUMER PROTECTION BOARD, SHALL:
(1) ASSESS THE IMPACT OF INSURANCE REGULATORY ACTIONS ON NEW YORK
CONSUMERS. SUCH ASSESSMENT SHALL INCLUDE THE REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS FOR
SUBSCRIBER RATE CHANGES FILED BY HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDERS LICENSED
PURSUANT TO ARTICLE FORTY-THREE OF THIS CHAPTER AND ARTICLE FORTY-FOUR
OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
(2) APPEAR AT PUBLIC HEARINGS AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF CONSUMERS, TREAT-
ED AS A CLASS, WITH RESPECT TO RATE-SETTING MATTERS THAT ARE BEFORE THE
SUPERINTENDENT THAT AFFECT THE CONSUMING PUBLIC.
(3) POSSESS ALL RIGHTS AND POWERS OF ANY PARTY AT INTEREST APPEARING
BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT WITH REGARD TO EXAMINATION AND CROSS-EXAMINATION
OF WITNESSES AND PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11361-01-9
Comments
Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.
Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.
Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.