Workers' compensation insurance: rating organizations: statistical agent.

Existing law requires the Insurance Commissioner to designate a licensed rating organization, as defined, as his or her statistical agent to gather and compile workers' compensation insurers' loss and expense experience statistics, and all licensed rating organizations are required to report loss and expense experiences of their member workers' compensation insurers to the statistical agent. Subject to reasonable rules approved by the commissioner, the statistical agent is required to make those compiled experience statistics available to all licensed rating organizations. The statistical agent is authorized to make a reasonable charge to other ratings organizations for the expense incurred by it in combining, tabulating, and compiling the experience of all workers' compensation insurers. This bill would prohibit the commissioner from designating a rating organization as his or her statistical agent unless the rating organization agrees to comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act and the California Public Records Act with regard to those activities that are associated with its role as the commissioner's statistical agent. The bill would require any dispute arising between the commissioner's designated rating organization and any party seeking to enforce the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act or the California Public Records Act be resolved in a court of competent jurisdiction, and would provide that the commissioner shall not be obligated to defend or represent the rating organization in those proceedings. The bill would prohibit the designated rating organization from releasing any information or communications, pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act or the California Public Records Act, determined to be confidential, as provided.