NCCI update at SAWCA
At the 2019 SAWCA All- Committee Conference, Clarissa Preston and David Benedict from NCCI provided an update on legislative issues around the nation.
Federal level
TRIA reauthorization is one of the most important issues facing the insurance industry right now. A House Committee has passed a bill to reauthorize TRIA for another 7 years. Hearings have started on the Senate side but there are currently no Senate bills introduced on TRIA.
There is also Federal legislation introduced that would grant insurers safe harbor for providing insurance products to the marijuana industry. Similar legislation focuses on the banking industry.
State Legislation
This year NCCI has tracked 685 bills nationally this year which had potential impact to workers’ compensation. 98 of these bills were actually enacted.
Expanding first responder presumption laws remains the leading issue with 124 bills introduced. 55 bills introduced dealt with fee schedules and treatment guidelines.
20 states considered single-payer healthcare legislation. CA, OR and VT all passed bills to study the single payer issue.
9 states considered legislation on air ambulance costs. However the courts have consistently indicated this issue is regulated solely on the Federal side. There has been some Federal legislation on this focused on doing a study on the issues around air ambulance costs. There really is no movement on this issue anticipated or several years because there will be a study, then a report with recommendations before anything actually happens.
NCCI Analysis and Pricing
NCCI is frequently asked by members jurisdictions and state regulators to analyze the potential cost impact of legislation. They do not have the data to do this on legislation that impacts self-insureds and first responders including presumption legislation.
Sometimes these pricing studies are published but not always. At times the information is provided behind the scenes confidentiality to state regulators. It typically takes a few weeks to produce these studies so it is important for regulators to reach out to NCCI for this information as early in the legislative process as possible. Occasionally NCCI is unable to provide an exact numerical estimate on the costs of potential legislation because the data may not be sufficient.
NCCI publishes an annual report on legislative activity that can be viewed here: