HBA-MSH C.S.H.B. 2829 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2829 By: Smithee Insurance 4/18/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, companies wishing to provide commercial automobile liability, professional liability, and workers' compensation insurance in Texas are required to file information regarding their loss control services before obtaining a license to issue that type of insurance. When large national insurance companies apply for a license to provide insurance in Texas, they often seek authorization to write the same lines of insurance they write in other states even if they do not intend to write each line in Texas. This creates administrative problems for the insurance companies and does not increase the protection afforded by the provision of loss control information or loss control or accident prevention facilities. Requiring insurers to provide the information only before actually writing the insurance will provide the same level of disclosure regarding loss control services or loss control or accident prevention facilities while easing administrative difficulties. C.S.H.B. 2829 provides that insurers wishing to provide commercial automobile liability, professional liability, and workers' compensation insurance must file loss control information as a prerequisite for writing that line of insurance. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the commissioner of insurance in SECTION 1 (Article 5.06-4, Insurance Code), SECTION 2 (Article 5.15-2, Insurance Code), and SECTION 3 (Article 5.15-3, Insurance Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2829 amends the Insurance Code to provide that an insurer desiring to write commercial automobile liability insurance and professional liability insurance, and workers' compensation must provide loss control information or services or loss control or accident prevention facilities as a prerequisite for writing that line of insurance rather than as a prerequisite for a license to write that line of insurance. The bill transfers duties and powers including rulemaking authority relating to loss control requirements of these types of insurance to the commissioner of insurance from the State Board of Insurance. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2829 differs from the original by removing the provision in the original that requires the commissioner of insurance to approve the loss control information filed by providers of commercial automobile liability, professional liability, and workers compensation insurance before the insurer is authorized to write that line of insurance.