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Office of Insurance Regulation

Office Announces Submission of Proposed Rates for 2018 Federal PPACA Health Insurance Plans

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Office of Insurance Regulation announced the submission of proposed rates for 2018 Federal Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) health insurance plans. Rates for individual major medical plans which comply with the coverage requirements of PPACA may increase an average of 44.7% beginning on January 1, 2018. The majority of this increase – 31 percentage points – is directly attributable to Silver plans offered on the Exchange. Most consumers with the Silver plans will not see an out-of-pocket change, as the federal premium subsidy will also increase to absorb this extra cost. In fact, as noted in the documents linked below, a family of four earning $53,000, as well as an individual earning $27,000, may see a slight decrease in their out-of-pocket health insurance premium in 2018. Consumers enrolled in a Silver on-Exchange plan that do not receive a premium subsidy will have the option of purchasing a similar off-Exchange Silver plan without this extra cost. Plans other than the on-Exchange Silver plans will increase an average of 18%. In 2013, an unsubsidized plan comparable to an existing Silver plan would cost a family of four an average of $7,200. In 2018, the average unsubsidized cost for the same family totals $17,000.

While 2017 data is not yet available, federal reimbursements of cost-sharing reductions or payments directly to insurers totaled $1.3 billion in 2016, and premium subsidies received by Florida consumers enrolled in on-Exchange plans totaled $4.7 billion. 

For more information, see the documents provided below:

Per federal guidelines, a total of nine health insurance companies submitted rate filings for the Office’s review in June. There were 14 participating companies in 2017, 19 participating companies in 2016, and 21 participating companies in 2015. In 2018, Florida will have 42 counties that are served by only one carrier.

The rate filings consisted of individual major medical plans to be sold both on and off the Exchange. Federal review of the rate filing information has not been finalized by the Department of Health & Human Services and is subject to change. Further information can be obtained from each insurance company, the Federal Government website, the Office’s I-File Forms & Rates Filing Search System, and the Office’s Federal Health Care Insurance Reform webpage.

About the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets. For more information about the Office, please visit www.floir.com or follow us on Twitter @FLOIR_comm and Facebook.  

Commissioner Altmaier Welcomes New Chief of Staff to the Office of Insurance Regulation

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Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Yaworsky as the new Chief of Staff for the Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) effective Monday, July 24, 2017.
“Mr. Yaworsky has a wide range of experience serving in state government positions both in Florida and Georgia. This public service background combined with his exceptional leadership abilities will be a tremendous asset to the Office. I look forward to his counsel and on working with him to implement strategies to bolster the administrative and operational functions of the Office,” stated Commissioner Altmaier.
Since 2015, Mr. Yaworsky served as Legal Counsel for the Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, where he was responsible for advising the Commissioner and senior staff on policy decisions and performing administrative, regulatory and litigation duties associated with the legal unit. He also served as General Counsel for the Office of President Pro Tempore in the Georgia Senate from 2013 – 2015.
Mr. Yaworsky has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science from Florida State University and a Juris Doctor degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. He has been a member of the Georgia Bar since 2014.

Bill 7085, sponsored by State Representatives Jay Trumbull and Danny Burgess, will protect and create jobs in Florida.

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Tallahassee, Fla. — Yesterday, State Representative Jay Trumbull’s office released the statement below following House passage of H.B. 7085:
Today, the Florida House of Representatives passed House Bill 7085, which will increase workers’ compensation benefits for injured workers while decreasing insurance premiums for employers. The legislation, sponsored by State Representative Jay Trumbull, will promote job creation and protect existing jobs by addressing the 14.5 percent workers’ compensation premium increase approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation.
“As a small business owner myself, I know that the cost of workers’ compensation insurance is at the top of the list of things we have to get right,” said Trumbull. “Skyrocketing workers comp rates won’t just keep small businesses from hiring more workers. It will also cause job terminations and layoffs.”
Trumbull continued: “We have worked hard on this bill that will protect Florida jobs for tens of thousands of people. Every time government puts a requirement in place—another piece of paperwork or another insurance mandate or another license or fee—it not only hurts the owner of the business, it hurts employees, their families, and the entire community. It certainly hurts the person who may not get hired in the first place. I’m glad to say that with this workers’ comp bill, we’ve taken an important step toward making sure Florida stays one of the best places in the country to do business.”

Office of Insurance Regulation Issues Designated Statistical Agent for Workers’ Compensation RFP

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floir
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) today issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purpose of seeking one or more qualified firms to perform the functions of a designated statistical agent for Workers’ Compensation and Employers Liability insurance as permitted by Florida Statutes. This procurement will be accepting qualified responses and required documents through April 27, 2017. The anticipated date to announce the Notice of Intent to Award to the qualified vendor or vendors will be on May 8, 2017. The RFP may be viewed on the Vendor Bid System.
About the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets. For more information about the Office, please visit www.floir.com or follow us on Twitter @FLOIR_comm and Facebook.

Florida Signs a $1.5 Million Life Claim Settlement Agreement with Ameriprise Subsidiaries

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The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office), Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS), and the Florida Office of the Attorney General (AG) today announced that a $1.5 million life claim settlement agreement has been reached with subsidiaries of the Ameriprise Group, RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life Insurance Company of New York.
The settlement agreement focuses on the one-sided use of the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (DMF) to stop paying a deceased person’s annuity, but not using the same information to find and begin paying the deceased’s family or other beneficiaries for life insurance policies. The multi-state examination was conducted by California, which served as the managing lead state, Florida, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.
Florida’s allocation of the multi-state settlement payment by Ameriprise is over $111,000, which covers the costs of the investigations and future compliance monitoring. To date, state insurance regulators have either reached settlements or concluded the investigation of 28 of the top 40 companies constituting 80% of the total market. Efforts continue to be focused on the examination of the remaining 12 insurers.
Florida’s joint state agency effort was the catalyst for the development of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Life/Annuities Claim Settlements Practices Task Force, which had been coordinating the national multi-state examinations of the top 40 life/annuity insurance companies since 2011. In the years since these efforts began, more than $7.3 billion in unknown or lost policy proceeds to beneficiaries have been returned directly by the companies and over $2.8 billion delivered to the states’ unclaimed property programs.
Effective July 1, 2016, Florida implemented comprehensive legislation requiring life insurance companies to search the DMF and compare the records of both current life insurance policies and those going back to January 1, 1992, when trying to find beneficiaries of a life insurance benefit. Senate Bill 966, championed by Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater (DFS) and signed by Governor Scott, strengthens the state’s unclaimed property laws for the protection of Florida consumers and provides life insurance companies with a standardized methodology for locating beneficiaries.
For more information, visit the Office’s “Life Claim Settlement Practices” webpage. To search or submit a request for unclaimed property, visit www.FLTreasureHunt.org, or call 1-88-VALUABLE or (850) 413-3089.
About the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets. For more information about the Office, please visit www.floir.com or follow us on Twitter @FLOIR_comm and Facebook.

Office Issues 2016 Workers’ Compensation Annual Report

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The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has released the 2016 Workers’ Compensation Annual Report to the Florida Legislature. The Office is required by law to annually evaluate competition in the workers’ compensation market and to investigate and use data in its review of associated rate filings.
For more information on this subject, please visit the Office’s Workers’ Compensation webpage.
About the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets. For more information about the Office, please visit www.floir.com or follow us on Twitter @FLOIR_comm and Facebook.