Alert Edition May 2024

Welcome to the May 2024 edition of the FORC Alert. If you have any colleagues that may be interested in this publication, please forward it on. There is a link on the Alerts main page where they can subscribe to receive FORC Alerts automatically.

Regards,
C. Ignacio Matos, Esq., FORC Alert Co-Editor
Ryan Smart, Esq., FORC Alert Co-Editor
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Category(s): National - 05/28/2024

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Expanding Access to Affordable, Quality Health Care Coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Recipients

From The White House, Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Expands Health Coverage to DACA Recipients, The White House Briefing Room (May 3, 2024): On May 3, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced expanding access to affordable, quality health care coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. In 2012, President Obama and then Vice President Biden created the DACA policy to transform the lives of eligible Dreamers – young people who came to this country as children—allowing them to live and work lawfully in our country. Over the last decade, DACA has brought stability, possibility, and progress to hundreds of thousands of Dreamers.
While President Biden continues to call on Congress to provide a pathway to citizenship to Dreamers and others, he is committed to protecting and preserving DACA and providing Dreamers with the opportunities and support they need to succeed, including access to affordable, quality health care coverage. Today’s final rule will remove the prohibition on DACA recipients’ eligibility for Affordable Care Act coverage for the first time and is projected to help more than 100,000 young people gain health insurance. Starting in November, DACA recipients can apply for coverage through HealthCare.gov and state-based marketplaces, where they may qualify for financial assistance to help them purchase quality health insurance. 
The current Administration believe that health care should be a right, not a privilege. Accordingly, it has promised to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, lowering costs and expanding coverage so that every American has the peace of mind that health insurance brings. This final rule gives the same opportunity to DACA recipients. Click here  to read the full article from The White House.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): National - 05/28/2024

DOL Releases Final Fiduciary Rule

From Patrick Donachie, DOL Releases Final Fiduciary Rule, Wealth Management (April 23, 2024): The Biden administration unveiled the final version of its fiduciary rule on April 23, effective Sept. 23. Like previous attempts, the rule will redefine the definition of fiduciary under ERISA. The unveiling follows the Department of Labor’s proposal released last fall and a 60-day comment period. Click here  to read the full article on the Wealth Management website.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): National - 05/28/2024

FTC Issues Ban on Worker Noncompete Clauses

From J. Edward Moreno, F.T.C. Issues Ban on Worker Noncompete Clauses, The New York Times (April 23, 2024): The Federal Trade Commission on April 23 said employers could no longer, in most cases, stop their employees from going to work for rival companies. The rule would prohibit companies from limiting their employees’ ability to work for rivals, a change that could increase competition and boost wages. Click here  to read the full article from The New York Times.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): National - 05/28/2024

House Committee Votes to Limit FIO’s Reach into Industry

From Mark Schoeff Jr., House committee votes to limit FIO’s reach into industry, Insurance Business America (April 18, 2024): A House committee approved legislation on April 17 that would prevent the Federal Insurance Office from compelling insurers to provide information to the agency. The bill, the Insurance Data Protection Act, would eliminate the subpoena power of the FIO and the Office of Financial Research. It also would establish confidentiality procedures for non-public data and would require the FIO to coordinate with state insurance regulators when trying to collect information. Click here  to read the full article on the Insurance Business website.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Alabama - 05/30/2024

ALDOI: Notice of Regulation Hearing

From the Alabama Department of Insurance, Notice of Regulation Hearing, by Associate Counsel Erin Dunagan (May 6, 2024): A regulation hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. CT, on Thursday, June 11, 2024 in the offices of the Alabama Department of Insurance, 201 Monroe Street Floor Conference Room, RSA Tower, Montgomery, Alabama, for a number of regulations. To see the full list of regulations, click here.

Stephen W. Still, Esq. - BALCH & BINGHAM LLP, (205) 488-5512 , sstill@balch.com

Category(s): Alabama - 05/28/2024

The Alabama Department of Insurance has Issued/Updated the Following Bulletin:

Bulletin No. 2024-01: PY 2025 Filing Guidance

Stephen W. Still, Esq. - BALCH & BINGHAM LLP, (205) 488-5512 , sstill@balch.com

Category(s): Florida - 05/29/2024

Emergency Insulin Refill Bill Becomes Law

From the Florida State Legislature, Chapter 2024-79, Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 201: HB 201 allows more emergency refills of insulin and allows refills of insulin-related supplies or equipment. The bill was signed by Governor DeSantis on April 11, 2024 and takes effect on July 1, 2024. The bill allows pharmacists to dispense an emergency refill of insulin three times in a calendar year as long as the three times are not consecutive. Importantly, the emergency refills are allowed without a prescription which is current law. Current law also only allows one emergency refill, so the bill substantially increases the number of refills allowed without a prescription. Click here  to read Chapter 2024-79.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Florida - 05/29/2024

FHCF Overall Premium Increases Slightly For 2024-2025

From the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF), Summary of Minutes, March 21, 2024: On April 3, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) issued an update on Florida’s property and casualty insurance market. Following historic legislative reforms designed to promote market stability, eight property and casualty insurers were approved to enter Florida’s insurance market. Ovation Home Insurance Exchange, the most recent approval, joins Manatee Insurance Exchange, Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange, Orange Insurance Exchange, Orion180 Select Insurance Company, Orion180 Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, and Tailrow Insurance Companies as newly approved property and casualty insurers. Click here  to read the full Summary of Minutes

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Florida - 05/29/2024

My Safe Florida Condo Pilot Program Bill Signed by Governor

From The Florida Senate, CS/CS/CS/HB 1029: My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program by the Commerce Committee: HB 1029 creates create the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program (Condo Pilot Program).  The bill was signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on April 24, 2024. It takes effect on July 1, 2024. The bill allows condo associations within 15 miles of Florida’s coast to obtain money from the state for mitigation inspections and grants under the Pilot Program. The Condo Pilot Program is patterned on the My Safe Florida. Click here  to read CS/CS/CS/HB 1029: My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Florida - 05/29/2024

My Safe Florida Home Changes and Funding Bill Becomes Law

From the CBS Miami Team, Gov. DeSantis Approves Boost for Popular Home Hardening Grant Program (April 25, 2024): SB 7028 changes some of the requirements of the My Safe Florida Home Program (Program) and appropriates $200 million additional funding for the Program. The program offers inspections and grants up to $10,000 to help residents upgrade homes and qualify for property insurance discounts for residences valued up to $700,000. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill on April 24, 2024. It takes effect on July 1, 2024. Click here  to read the full article. Click here  to read CS/SB 7028: My Safe Florida Home Program on The Florida Senate website.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Florida - 05/29/2024

OIR Issues Update on Florida's Property Insurance Market

Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, OIR Issues Update on Florida’s Property Insurance Market, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Newsroom (April 3, 2024): On April 3, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) issued an update on Florida’s property and casualty insurance market. Following historic legislative reforms designed to promote market stability, eight property and casualty insurers were approved to enter Florida’s insurance market. Ovation Home Insurance Exchange, the most recent approval, joins Manatee Insurance Exchange, Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange, Orange Insurance Exchange, Orion180 Select Insurance Company, Orion180 Insurance Company, Mainsail Insurance Company, and Tailrow Insurance Companies as newly approved property and casualty insurers. Read the full article from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation  here.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Florida - 05/30/2024

Skin Screening Cost Sharing Bill for State Health Insurance Signed by Governor

From the Florida Senate CS/HB 241,by Select Committee on Health Innovation and Reps. Massullo, Payne, and others (CS/SB 56 by Banking and Insurance Committee and Senator Harrell): On April 5, 2024, Governor DeSantis signed HB 241. The bill prohibits the state group health insurance plans from imposing cost sharing on the insured for annual skin cancer screenings. Thus, insureds will not incur out of pocket costs such as deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance for the annual screenings. Currently, the state group health plans cover dermatology visits, including skin cancer screenings, as a specialist office visit which imposes some out-of-pocket costs on the insured. Read more from The Florida Senate  here.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

BULLETIN 24-EX-5: Extension of Renewal Periods for All Insurers Due to Technical Issues with the GIMS Platform

On March 21, 2024, Commissioner John F. King issued Bulletin 24-EX-5 informing all insurers that the license renewal period has been extended until April 30, 2024, due to a technical issue with the GIMS platform. This extension is granted to all insurers facing annual renewal. No late fees or penalties will be assessed for renewals submitted within the extended period. Penalties will begin accruing on May 1, 2024.

Tony Roehl, Esq. - BAKER HOSTETLER LLP, (404) 256-8419 , troehl@bakerlaw.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud

On March 22, 2024, former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, who served 16 years in that role, avoided an April 15, 2024 trial start date by pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud under a federal criminal statute as the result of a May 2022 indictment that alleged he assisted a physician to receive tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from medically unnecessary patient medical lab tests. His sentencing is scheduled for July 12, 2024.

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

Georgia Insurance Commissioner’s Bulletin 24-EX-4 (FAQs for Certificates of Insurance)

On March 14, 2024, the Georgia Insurance Commissioner issued a new bulletin reminding insurance agents that Section 33-24-49.1 of the Georgia Insurance Code establishes a regulatory framework for the issuance of certificates of insurance for inforce insurance policies. Bulletin 24-EX-4 supersedes a similar bulletin, Bulletin 23-EX-9 issued less than a year ago on June 6, 2023. 
The new Bulletin contains a list of seven questions and the Georgia Insurance Department’s positional answers thereto.

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

House Bill 279 re Property Insurance Premium Discount for Fortified Structures

Unless vetoed by the Governor (which is highly unlikely), House Bill 279  will amend OCGA Title 33, Ch. 32, and it will require insurers to provide premium discounts to homeowners and commercial properties that fortify against wind damage. It is expected that the bill will require insurers to submit rating plans to the GA DOI. The discounts should begin March 1, 2025.

Julie M. Pomerantz, Esq. - MITCHELL, WILLIAMS, SELIG, GATES & WOODYARD, P.L.L.C, (512) 480-5100 , jpomerantz@mwlaw.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

Insurance Agency Not Liable for Failure to Notify Insurer of Covered Loss

In a recent, unpublished decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company v. Markey Insurance Group, Case No. 23-11438 (11th Cir., Apr. 17, 2024), the court affirmed the judgement of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia that Markey Insurance Group, an insurance agency, was not liable to Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company for breach of their insurance agency agreement, or under a negligence theory, for Markey’s failure to notify Massachusetts Bay of a covered loss sustained by an insured business owner who had reported notice of the loss to Markey where neither the insured nor Markey informed Massachusetts Bay of the loss. The loss arose from a trip and fall accident on the insured’s premises, resulting in severe spinal injury to the tort victim, who later died by suicide allegedly because of the pain from the injury. The injured party obtained a default judgement against the business owner before Massachusetts Bay learned of the lawsuit. However, both courts found that Massachusetts Bay had failed to prove that Markey’s failure to comply with its agency agreement’s notice of a loss obligation was the direct proximate cause of Massachusetts Bay’s liability under its insurance policy.

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

Key New Insurance Laws Adopted during Georgia’s 2024 Legislative Session Ended March 29, 2024 – Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp, has until May 8, 2024 to Approve or Veto

SB 426 (Motor Carrier Insurer Direct Actions) will narrow the availability of Georgia’s “direct action” statute, which allows an injured party to join as a defendant a motor carrier’s liability insurer in a lawsuit brought against a motor carrier, and limit these direct actions only if (i) a motor carrier is insolvent or bankrupt or (ii) personal service of the lawsuit cannot be made after reasonable diligence upon the driver of a motor carrier’s vehicle or the motor carrier itself.
SB 83 (Bad Faith Settlement Holt Demands) will provide favorable insurance industry reforms to Georgia’s “Holt Demand” laws related to insurance claims bad faith settlement liability. A Holt Demand is an insured’s settlement offer made to its insurer for an amount within an insurance policy’s limits of liability. A 1992 case, Southern General Insurance Company v. Holt, established that, if an insurer refuses to accept such a settlement, it may be liable to the insured for the full amount of an excess judgment rendered against the insurer. For auto insurance, the Holt case is codified in O.C.G.A. § 9-11-67. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have used this law to extract large settlements from insurers for bad-faith liability exposures based on technicalities in their acceptance of demands made for payment within an insurance policy’s limits of liability for settlement of a claim. The bill’s primary reform is to establish and clarify what are the permitted “material” terms of settlement and that those are the only ones that need to be accepted by an insurer.
HB 63 (Group Policyholder’s Claims Experience Data) will reduce the size of an insured group to which a health insurer must, upon the group policyholder’s request, provide earned premium, claims paid and incurred and claims amount in excess of stop-loss attachment points. The reduction requires a health insurer to provide the claims experience data to insured groups of 20 or more, down from a previous minimum of 51. 
HB 892 (Georgia Car Insurance Policy Saver Act) will amend Chapter 9 of the Georgia Insurance Code (Regulation of Rates, Underwriting Rules, and Related Organizations) to require motor vehicle insurers to allow a private passenger motor vehicle insured to suspend coverage and avoid premium payments for an inoperable motor vehicle if the insured provides a non-use affidavit to the insurer on a form and in a manner prescribed by the Georgia Insurance Commissioner. In addition, a private passenger motor vehicle insurer must offer an insurance policy providing coverage for loss, theft, accidents, fire, hail damage, and other natural causes when an inoperable vehicle is parked or stored at a premium cost not more than 50% of the premium cost for motor vehicle liability insurance policy.
HB 1049 (Insurance Business Transfer Act) will amend Chapter 52 of the Georgia Insurance Code (Assumption Reinsurance Agreements) to authorize insurance business transfers (assumption and novation of inforce insurance policies) under an insurance business transfer plan approved by the Georgia Insurance Commissioner and the Superior Court of Fulton County. 
HB 279 (Insurance Rate Reduction for Wind Damage Fortifications) will amend Chapter 32 of the Georgia Insurance Code (Property Insurance) to require insurance carriers, beginning on March 1, 2025, to provide premium rate discounts to homeowners and commercial properties owners who build a new residential or commercial property or retrofit an existing residential or commercial property that better resists tornado, hurricane, or other catastrophic windstorm events. 
HB 994 (Boat Livery Insurance) will allow a boat livery, in its capacity as the owner of a vessel, to avoid liability arising from an operator’s negligent use of a rented vessel if (a) the boat livery maintains minimum per occurrence limits of liability insurance of $500,000 per person and $1 million in the aggregate, (b) the boat livery did not rent the vessel to an operator who the boat livery knew or should have know was not a safe operator and (c) the vessel was in safe operating condition.

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

Life Insurance Cost of Insurance Increase Challenge Proceeds

In Advance Trust & Life Escrow Services, LTA v. Protective Life Insurance Co., Case No. 22-12991 (11th Cir., March 1, 2024), the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama of the plaintiff life insurance policyholder’s claim that Protective Life Insurance Company’s increase of the cost of insurance under his $100,000 face amount life insurance policy breached the terms of the policy. As a result the class action will proceed premised on the theory that Protective Life chose to, and did, reassess, redetermine, and change its internal monthly cost of insurance rate scale and violated the policy  by ignoring its “expectations as to future mortality experience” under the policy’s clause stating that: “Monthly cost of insurance rates will be determined by us, based on our expectations as to future mortality experience.”

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com

Category(s): Georgia - 05/29/2024

Proposed Rule Changes related to Agents

Ch. 120-2-3-.07 “Resident Agent License Requirements”, Ch. 120-2-3-.08 “Prelicensing Course and Provider Approval”, and Ch. 120-2-3-.14 “Resident Agent Personal Lines License”. The primary purpose is to modernize and modify the regulations, increase DOI efficiency, and get in conformity with industry best practices. Also, the proposed changes lower the pre-licensing course requirements from 20 to 8 hours of pre-licensing course work.

Julie M. Pomerantz, Esq. - MITCHELL, WILLIAMS, SELIG, GATES & WOODYARD, P.L.L.C, (512) 480-5100 , jpomerantz@mwlaw.com

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