The deadline for California Assembly and Senate bills to pass their respected houses was May 30, 2014. Bills that met the deadline are eligible for enactment this year.

Bills that met the May 30 deadline will now be considered by the opposing house, with the regular legislative session ending on August 31.

Here are summaries of noteworthy insurance-related bills that met the May 30 deadline for passage.

Assembly Bills

AB 1234 would exempt from discovery or from admission in civil litigation information pertaining to an insurer that is a member of an insurance holding company system when that information is included in a registration statement or obtained by or disclosed to the insurance commissioner in the course of an examination or investigation.

AB 1804 would require private passenger auto insurers, homeowners insurers, and insurers providing individual disability income insurance policies to maintain a process which allows an insured to designate an additional person to receive notice of lapse, termination, expiration, non-renewal, or cancellation of a policy for nonpayment of premium.

AB 2064 would revise the disclosure language which must be included in a homeowners insurer’s mandatory offer of earthquake insurance. AB 2064 also would increase the statutory cap on the California Earthquake Authority’s operating expenses from 3% of its premium income to 5% of its premium income.

AB 2128 would extend the sunset date on statutory provisions relating to the Department of Insurance’s California Organized Investment Network (COIN) program from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2020.

AB 2293 would require a transportation network company to advise its participating drivers of the company’s insurance coverage and limits of liability. AB 2293 defines a “transportation network company” as an organization “that provides prearranged transportation services for compensation using an online-enabled application or platform to connect passengers with drivers using their personal vehicles.” AB 2293 provides that a transportation network company’s insurance policy is the primary policy coverage and that a transportation network company’s policy shall apply in the event of a loss or injury when a participating driver logs on to a transportation network company’s application program.  

AB 2734 would make changes to the Insurance Code which the Assembly Insurance Committee characterizes as “noncontroversial.” Among other changes, AB 2734 would 1) increase from $5,000 to $20,000 the threshold which triggers the obligation on a surplus lines broker or insurer to make tax payments in quarterly installments, 2) clarify what constitutes a “California business” for purposes of insurers’ duty to file information with the insurance commissioner concerning procurement contracts with minority, women, and disabled veteran-owned businesses, and 3) change the annual data call on private passenger auto insurance information to an every-other-year data call.

AB 2735 would set forth in statute that a homeowner who has purchased an earthquake insurance policy that does not satisfy the standard coverage requirement must be reminded by the insurer at renewal that the homeowner has the right to purchase a policy that meets the standard coverage requirement.

Senate Bills

SB 1034 would make clear that a health plan or insurer offering group coverage may not impose a separate waiting period in addition to the 90-day waiting period that the federal Affordable Care Act allows an employer to use.

SB 1205 would require the Department of Insurance’s curriculum board to develop or recommend a course of study for agents and brokers on commercial earthquake risk management.

SB 1273 would extend the sunset date on the California Low-Cost Automobile Insurance Program from January 1, 2016, to January 1, 2020. SB 1273 also would amend several statutory provisions relating to the program. Among other changes to the program, AB 1273 would repeal the $20,000 cap on the value of a vehicle insured under the program and would allow a person who has fewer than three years of driving history to qualify for coverage under the program.

SB 1446 would allow a small employer health plan or a small employer health insurance policy in effect on December 31, 2013, that does not qualify as a grandfathered health plan under the federal Affordable Care Act, to be renewed until January 1, 2015, and to continue to be in force until December 31, 2016.