Missouri Approves Producer Licensing Bill with Exemptions

The Missouri House Insurance Committee recently passed a version of the insurance producer licensing bill. The bill contained compromised language exempting employees who are not engaged in sales.

Ann Weber of the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) stated that SB 193, Missouri’s bill, appears to meet the reciprocity requirements of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act and and thus avoid federal encroachment into the regulation of insurance.

SB 193 states that a producer license will not be required for “employees of an insurer or an insurance producer who respond to requests from existing policyholders on existing policies provided that those employees are not directly compensated based on the volume of premiums that may result from these services and provided those employees do not sell, solicit or negotiate insurance.”

The legislature is heading into its final four weeks and several consumer privacy bills are pending. Included in those bills is Governor Bob Holden’s bill, HB 891, which the NAII opposes because its health information provisions would apply to property/casualty insurers. According to Weber, these provisions go beyond requirements of the GLB Act.

Weber stated that the NAII supports SB 382, enabling legislation that allows the Insurance Commissioner to adopt privacy regulations that are not more restrictive than GLB. SB 382 has passed the Senate and been approved by the House Insurance Committee.

NAII also opposes SB 433, a dram shop bill that initially intended to negate a recent state Supreme Court decision and put liability back on an intoxicated person who injures another person or damages his property. The bill was amended to delete that provision and require an insurer providing dram shop coverage to do so in a separate rider, with a separate premium.

Topics Legislation Missouri