Health Insurance

Creation of a statewide health insurance purchasing pool.  Senate Bill 6 would create a statewide pool which would reduce the cost of insurance for thousands of Delaware’s families and small businesses, by giving them some of the same advantages that big companies now have when purchasing health insurance. There is $5 million allotted in the 2007-2008 budget to start the pool, a level of funding that would allow more than 10,000 Delawareans to enroll in the pool in its first year. S.B. 6 is sponsored by state Sens. Patricia Blevins and Robert Marshall and state Rep. Bethany Hall-Long.
Status: S.B. 6 passed by Senate; awaiting action in House Economic Development, Banking and Insurance Committee

Allow the Department of Insurance to regulate health insurance rates.  Senate Bill 37 would allow the Insurance Department to turn down excessive health insurance rates. Delaware is one of only ten states in the country that does not regulate health insurance rates for either families or small businesses. The Department already has this authority for other lines of insurance such as automobile and homeowners insurance. S.B. 37 is sponsored by state Sen. Patricia Blevins and state Rep. Bill Oberle.
Status: S.B. 37 passed by Senate; awaiting action in House Economic Development, Banking and Insurance Committee

Protect consumers from bogus health insurance.  Senate Bill 58 would protect Delaware consumers from “medical discount cards.” These cards look like health insurance but are not and, in some instances, can be scams against low and middle income Delawareans who are struggling to pay for health insurance. S.B. 58 is sponsored by state Sen. Harris McDowell and state Rep. Helene Keeley.
Status: S.B. 58 passed by Senate; passed by House Economic Development, Banking and Insurance Committee; awaiting action in full House of Representatives

Using information from the free and reduced lunch program to enroll children in low-cost health coverage. House Bill 286 would get data from schools on children who take part in free and reduced price lunch programs and use it to find kids who are eligible for health coverage from the state but not enrolled. Sponsored by state Sens. Patricia Blevins and Liane Sorenson and state Reps. Pam Maier and Teresa Schooley, it would allow Delaware to take advantage of federal rules providing for transfer of information from school districts to the Department of Health and Social Services. Approximately 8,000 kids in Delaware are estimated to be eligible for the state's version of the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, but are not enrolled. More about this legislation available here.
Status: H.B. 286 signed into law by Governor June 18, 2008

Mandate coverage of nutritional supplements for children with PKU. Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inherited metabolic disease that results in mental retardation and other neurological problems when not treated. Many children with PKU cannot eat foods containing protein. A synthetic formula is used as a nutritional substitute for the eliminated foods, however it is very expensive. Senate Bill 78 would add Delaware to a list of states that require health insurance policies to help offset the cost of these substitutes. Sponsored by state Sen. Margaret Rose Henry and state Rep. Pam Maier.
Status: S.B. 78 signed into law by Governor August 1, 2007

Low-cost arbitration of billing disputes between health care providers and insurers.  Currently, health care providers have no practical way to contest decisions by health insurance companies to refuse their bills. The General Assembly should pass legislation to set up a low-cost, expedited arbitration process for billing disputes between health care providers and insurance companies. House Bill 92, sponsored by state Rep. Deborah Hudson and state Sen. Patricia Blevins will ensure that such disputes are resolved quickly, fairly, and inexpensively.
Status: H.B. 92 signed into law by Governor June 28, 2007

 

Protecting Consumers

Restricting the use of credit scoring in setting insurance rates. The use of credit scoring is both unnecessary and unfair and has been eliminated by law in some states and restricted voluntarily by some insurance companies. Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 31 would ban the use of credit scoring for policy renewals in auto and homeowner insurance, meaning that policy holders would never see an increase in insurance due to credit status. The bill would allow, at the request of a customer, insurance rates to decrease if a person's credit score is found to have improved; however, a customer's insurance rates could never increase, even if a customer requests a review and their credit score has worsened. The legislation would make Delaware one of the six strictest states in the country in terms of restictions on the use of credit scoring in setting insurance rates. Sponsored by state Sen. Margaret Rose Henry and state Reps. Dennis Williams and Hazel Plant.
Status: S.S. 1 for S.B. 31 signed into law by Governor August 1, 2007

Protecting homeowners from having their policies cancelled. Senate Bill 191 would prevent insurance companies from not renewing homeowner policies because the policyholders wither made a few claims against their policies or simply asked questions about making claims. They legislation comes in the wake of a Delaware court ruling allowing the insurance company practice. More about this legislation available here. Sponsored by state Sen. David Sokola and state Rep. Valerie Longhurst.
Status: S.B. 191 passed Senate; passed House of Representatives; awaiting Governor's signature

Protecting military service members.  Commissioner Denn will ask the General Assembly to implement legislation recommended by Congress and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to protect members of our military living or stationed in Delaware from unfair business practices targeted at them in the areas of life insurance and other related products.
Status: To be achieved via Proposed Regulation 1216, which can be found here

Protecting emergency responders. Senate Bill 239 would ban insurance companies from raising the auto insurance rates of policyholders or dropping their policies because they are volunteer firefighters and ambulance company members. The issue a rose after an insurance company moved to not renew the policy of a Sussex County volunteer firefighter who use his personal bvehicle to respond to emergency calls. More about this legislation available here. Sponsored by state Sens. Patricia Blevins and. Bruce Ennis and state Reps. Biff Lee and Bill Carson.
Status: S.B. 239 passed Senate; passed by House Economic Development and Insurance Commttee; awaiting action in full House of Representatives

Allowing veterans who need surgery to remain in Delaware.  The Veterans Affairs Medical Center is experiencing a shortage of surgeons and surgery-related staff, which means Delaware veterans are having to go to Maryland and Pennsylvania for surgery. A number of retiured doctors have offered to perform surgeries at the VA hospital, but are being hampered from doing so by a provision in their former medical malpractice insurance policies. Senate Bill 269 would allow retired doctors to work at the VA hospital without affecting their former coverage. Sponsored by state Sens. George Howard Bunting and Patricia Blevins and state Reps. Terry Spence and John Kowalko.
Status: S.B. 269 passed Senate; passed House of Representatives; awaiting the Governor's signature

 

Workers Compensation

Reforming Delaware's workers compensation system. Commissioner Denn particpated in the creation of and supported the passage of Senate Bill 1, a comprehensive reform of Delaware's workers compensation system designed to lower the cost of workers compensation insurance for the state's employers.Sponsored by state Sen. Anthony DeLuca and state Rep. William Oberle.
Status: S.B. 1 signed into law by Governor January 17, 2007

Federal Issues

Commissioner Denn will work with fellow state Insurance Commissioners to urge Congress and the President to:

Expand CHIP funding to ensure that Delaware has sufficient funds to enroll 100 percent of its eligible children in the program.

Reform the ERISA statute to allow states to more closely regulate self-funded health insurance plans.

Place national restrictions on practices of homeowners insurance companies, to prevent those companies from pitting one state against the other.