The board of directors of Colorado’s Pinnacol Assurance voted Thursday to oppose many of the bills proposed by a legislative committee last month.
The proposed bills, which have not yet been introduced into the state legislature, are designed to reform Pinnacol and came after hearings on the function and practices of Pinnacol.
The board voted to opposed five of the proposed bills. But it also voted to support two bills. Those bills relate to informing injured workers and making workers’ compensation insurers more accountable to state insurance officials.
The bills opposed include one that would limit Pinnacol’s reserves, one that would double penalties for wrongful denial of claims, and one that would prohibit insurers from giving bonuses to employees for denying claims.
In a statement, board chair Gary Johnson said Pinnacol was against the bills on substantive grounds and because they impinged on the entire industry, which was beyond the authority of the committee.
“These bills have the potential to drive up workers’ compensation costs in Colorado and others are redundant, as well as an inappropriate intrusion of the legislature into the operations of a company that, by statute, is directed to operate as a mutual insurance company,” he said.
He also called a bill that would require that the executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment a “back door attempt to make Pinnacol a state agency by imposing a public testimony provision.”
He said public stakeholders already have access to Pinnacol board members and that Pinnacol’s board is subject to open meeting laws.
Topics Workers' Compensation Colorado
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
US P/C Underwriting Results: Two Years in a Row Over $20 Billion in the Red 
Ryan Specialty Announces Succession Plan: Pat Ryan to Exec Chair, Turner to Be CEO 
As Rates Rise, Majority of Homeowners Say Insurance Industry Is in Crisis: Survey 
‘Great Resignation’ Enters Third Year as Workers Embrace AI, Upskilling, PwC Says 
