Okla. Independent Agents Group CEO Pleased With Legislative Session

Dan Ramsey, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma, says the recently convened 2008 state legislative session was a good one as far as the association is concerned.

Out of 4,000 bills considered by lawmakers, 83 of which addressed insurance issues, the IIAO actively supported six of them. “Three of them passed and one was handled by a bulletin from the Oklahoma Insurance Department, so we were quite pleased with the outcome this year,” Ramsey wrote in a recent newsletter to IIAO members.

HB1959, which allows workers’ compensation insurer CompSource Oklahoma to purchase reinsurance to facilitate a policy endorsement to provide workers’ compensation coverage for employees of Oklahoma companies that are working out of state, was one of the bills supported by the agents’ group. It passed, was signed by the governor and becomes effective on Nov. 1.

Among the bills that the IIAO was instrumental in helping to defeat were several “that would have prohibited the use of credit as one of the underwriting tools to rate or underwrite personal lines,” Ramsey said. Others included HB2692, which would have imposed $15 million in premium taxes on Oklahoma policyholders to fund rural fire districts; HB2496, which would have required all automobile liability policies to include coverage to pay for services rendered by a tow truck operator; and HB3123, which would have allowed a personal surety rather than a performance bond be used on certain government contracts.

Ramsey said the IIAO has long opposed health insurance mandates and much of his work in the legislative session was aimed at defeating 14 bills “that would have required new mandates be added to health insurance policies. The mandates ranged from requiring these policies to pay for medical food and low protein foods, smoking cessation, marriage counseling, contraceptive supplies, homeopathic medicines, and autism.” The cumulative effect of the 36 health insurance mandates previously passed by Oklahoma legislators is that the cost of health insurance has increased by an estimated 31 – 46 percent, he said.

He noted that a tool the association invested in last year, Voter Voice, was instrumental in helping “‘kill’ in committee a bill that would have reinstated the State Board for Property & Casualty Rates.” Ramsey said the bill would have been a major setback for the insurance industry and insureds in Oklahoma. He urged association members to register to use the tool at www.votervoice.com.

Ramsey also encouraged members to participate in a non-partisan voter registration and education campaign called the Oklahoma Prosperity Project, which provides information about state legislators and candidates running for state office. Registration is available online at www.okprosperity.com.

Source: Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma, www.iiaok.com