Highlighting a little bit about a bill that is related to the insurance industry and how it was originally a consumer focused bill, but it kind of ended up helping the insurance companies in Washington State in the end. Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins tells us what that is all about. We’re over halfway through Washington’s 60-day legislative session. A lot has happened — and there’s a lot more to come. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins joins to talk about what’s happened so far this year, what bills have died, and what’s left on lawmakers’ agendas before they dismiss for the year and go into election-season mode.
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Full Transcript:
- You recently reported on the passage of a bill which isn't that surprising, that's what happens a lot in the legislature. But one of the bills highlighted some of that legislative sausage making as we said. But also how the influence of lobbying or how lobbying is involved in the process of passing bills, of course nothing new. But maybe highlight a little bit about that bill as it related to the insurance industry and it was originally a consumer focused bill and it kind of ended up helping the insurance companies in Washington State in the end. What was that about?
- So the three largest non profit insurers in the state have now amassed the surpluses of about four and a half million dollars and this has happened while premiums have been going up, in some years by double digits, out of pocket expenses for individuals and also for small businesses that buy in the small group market have been going up. So everybody's paying more and at the same time, while these are not for profit companies, they are sitting in a lot of money and that's caught the attention of law makers. What's interesting is that when these companies ask state insurance commissioners for approval to increase their rates, insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler, is not allowed to consider those surpluses and deciding whether the rate increase was reasonable. So the original proposal was to require him to take those into account and the insurance companies didn't like this. They also didn't like the fact that it would only apply to the non profits, not to the for profits. And so the change that happened was the industry working with the insurance commissioners office wrote amendments or an amendment to the original bill and that amendment which was adopted on the floor of the senate and ultimately passed on the floor of the senate, says that the insurance commissioner may consider those surpluses but doesn't have to and at the same time he does have to take into account some things that the insurance company wanted considered. Like whether they have assets that they need to invest into the future that may cost them money that that surplus money could be used for. So it was a really interesting case where this Chief, the prime sponsor actually on the floor of the senate said, it looks like the insurance industry and the carriers and the insurance commissioner worked together on this language. You're right, they did. And I think that moment revealed how a lot of the sausage making as you describe it works here, where you've got interest groups working very closely with, in this case, a regulator or law makers to craft something that, in the words of the insurance industry, they could live with. What is super interesting though is that while they agreed to this language, when I asked the industry what's gonna happen when this bill moves over to the house they said, "Well we won't oppose it. But we're also not gonna support it. We'll sign in neutral."
- Fascinating, inside the minds of legislators and lobbyists.
- You can see more of Austin's reporting on these and other topics, at NWPB.org. Thank you for joining us here in the Unique Northwest.
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