Date: 03/03/2010
Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB10-1166
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND LABOR
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01:55 PM -- House Bill 10-1166
Representative Kefalas, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 10-1166 concerning the use of plain language in insurance policies. This bill requires that insurance policies and plans issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2011, be written at or below a 10th grade reading level. For policies and plans longer than 3 pages or 3,000 words, the text must be written in 12 point or larger type and contain an index or table of contents. Insurance companies are required to report readability scores as part of their annual filings with the Division of Insurance in the Department of Regulatory Agencies. An insurance company that violates these requirements commits an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance and is subject to fines and penalties by the Commissioner of Insurance. The applicable policies and plans include:
- automobile insurance;
- health benefit plans;
- limited benefit health insurance;
- dental plans; and
- long-term care plans.
02:02 PM
Representative Kefalas distributed a number of amendments and Representative Rice and Representative Liston each distributed an amendment. Representative Rice took the bill off the table so the committee could vote on House Bill 10-1278.
02:10 PM -- House Bill 10-1166
The committee returned to House Bill 10-1166 and Representative Kefalas continued explaining the bill concerning the use of plain language in insurance policies. Representative Kefalas distributed a handout (Attachment E).
02:13 PM -- Stephanie Paswaters, Dayle Axman, Bobbie Baca, representing the Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Insurance, testified in support of the bill and distributed a handout (Attachment F). Representative Rice asked about scoring. Ms. Axman responded and directed the committee to the green sheet in the handout and gave some examples. Ms. Baca talked about auto insurance and the fact that young people are buying their own policies and the difficulty they have reading the policy.
02:27 PM -- Ken Gordon, representing himself, testified in support of the bill and talked about his experience practicing law and the benefits of plain language. He talked about a plain language bill he passed while in the state legislature. Mr. Gordon said the bill will reduce costs and cut legal fees.
02:29 PM -- Ben Price, representing the Colorado Association of Health Plans, testified on the bill. He talked about providing updated policies via e-mail. Representative Liston asked if he supports the bill with the amendments. Mr. Price said they would be neutral.
02:34 PM -- Kelly Shanahan, representing the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, testified in support of the bill.
02:36 PM -- Les Burkowitz, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He said he also represents small businesses and is testifying from that point of view. Mr. Burkowitz said most businesses do not have people who review policies and talked about the benefits of readability. He read an example from a policy.
02:42 PM -- Sharon Stevenson, representing the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, testified in support of the bill . She shared a story about a father who purchased health insurance for his child who had ear infections and ended up buying insurance that excluded coverage for ear infections because of the complex language used in the policy.
02:45 PM -- Lynn Leader, a small business owner, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She talked about similar bills that were passed in previous legislative sessions that have benefited her. She also said she would like to have an on-line version of her policy so she can easily search for terms.
02:47 PM -- Edie Sonn, representing the Colorado Medical Society, testified in support of the bill.
02:51 PM
Due to the number of amendments, Representative Rice laid the bill over until a pre-amended version can be drafted that includes all the amendments.