Insurance.

Existing law provides for the powers and duties of the Department of Insurance and the Insurance Commissioner. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to deny an application for a production agency license, or revoke an existing license, if the applicant or licenseholder has engaged in specified activities. Existing law requires a hearing to suspend or revoke a license, registration, or certificate of authority that involves allegations of misconduct perpetrated against a person age 65 or over to be held within 90 days after the department's receipt of the notice of defense, unless a continuance is granted. Existing law requires the department to maintain certain records in its office in the City and County of San Francisco. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions and would require a proceeding as described above to be upon the request of the department. The bill would authorize that hearing to be set on the earliest available date if the Office of Administrative Hearings cannot accommodate the hearing within 90 days after the department's receipt of the notice of defense. The bill would require the department to maintain certain records in its office in the San Francisco Bay area. Existing law authorizes a life licensee to act on behalf of a life insurer or a disability insurer to transact life insurance and accident and health insurance, as specified. Existing law authorizes a life licensee to act as a life agent and specifies that these licenses are either "life-only" or "accident and health" licenses. This bill would instead refer to those licenses as "life" and "accident and health or sickness" licenses and would make conforming changes. Existing law prohibits the commissioner from approving a disability insurance policy, contract, or supplemental contract for insurance or delivery in this state if it meets certain criteria. This bill would clarify that the commissioner cannot approve a disability insurance policy, contract, or supplemental contract for issuance or delivery in this state if it meets certain criteria. Existing law prohibits a life insurance policy issued on or after January 1, 2021, that contains long-term care benefits and permits policy loans or cash withdrawals from prohibiting or limiting a loan or withdrawal while the insured receives payment of long-term care benefits, but authorizes future access to policy loans to be limited to the remaining cash value of the policy. This bill would additionally authorize future access to cash withdrawals to be limited to the remaining cash value of the policy. Existing law authorizes a life or disability income insurer to decline a life or disability income insurance application or enrollment request on the basis of positive test results from certain tests that detect antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) performed by or at the direction of the insurer. This bill, on and after January 1, 2023, would instead prohibit an insurer from declining an application or enrollment request for coverage under a policy or certificate for life insurance or disability income insurance based solely on the results of a positive HIV test, regardless of when or at whose direction the test was performed. However, the bill would not prevent or restrict an insurer from refusing to insure an applicant that is HIV positive, limiting the amount, extent, or kind of coverage for an applicant that is HIV positive, or charging a different rate to an applicant that is HIV positive, if the refusal, limitation, or charge is based on sound actuarial principles and actual or reasonably anticipated experience. Existing law imposes a civil penalty on a person who negligently or willfully discloses results of an HIV antibody test to a 3rd party, except pursuant to written authorization or informed consent, in a manner that identifies or provides identifying characteristics of the person to whom the test results apply. Under existing law, the penalty for a negligent violation of those provisions is a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000 plus court costs, and the penalty for a willful violation of those provisions is a civil penalty in an amount not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 plus court costs. If the negligent or willful disclosure results in economic, bodily, or psychological harm to the subject of the test, existing law makes the person guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law defines "HIV antibody test" for these purposes to mean an ELISA test or a Western Blot Assay, or both. On and after January 1, 2023, this bill would eliminate the references to an HIV antibody test for purposes of those civil and criminal penalty provisions and instead would impose penalties for the negligent, willful, or malicious disclosure of results of an HIV test. The bill would increase the civil penalty for a negligent violation of those provisions to an amount not to exceed $2,500 plus court costs and would increase the civil penalty for a willful violation of those provisions to an amount not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000 plus court costs. The bill would impose the same civil penalty for a malicious violation of those provisions as is provided for the willful violation. The bill would also increase the amount of the fine that may be imposed for a misdemeanor violation of those provisions to an amount not to exceed $25,000. By changing the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides for the licensing of rental car agents and prohibits a rental car company from offering or selling insurance unless it is licensed as an insurance agent or broker, as described, or has been issued a license by the commissioner to act as a rental car agent, as specified. This bill would revise the name of that license and the holder of that license to instead refer to a car rental agent license and a car rental agent. The bill would make conforming changes. Existing law requires a health insurer to file with the department, for large group health insurance policies, the weighted average rate increase for all large group benefit designs during the 12-month period ending January 1 of the following calendar year. Existing law also requires a health insurer that is subject to that requirement to disclose specified aggregate rate information for the large group market submitted pursuant to that requirement. Existing law requires the department to conduct an annual public meeting regarding large group rates in order to permit a public discussion of the reasons for the changes in the rates. This bill would instead require the department to conduct that public meeting in every even-numbered year. Existing law enacts provisions, only until January 1, 2023, creating the Long Term Care Insurance Task Force in the Department of Insurance to examine the components necessary to design and implement a statewide long-term care insurance program. Existing law requires the task force to submit a report containing recommended options for establishing a statewide long-term care insurance program to the commissioner, the Governor, and the Legislature on or before July 1, 2021. Existing law also requires the department to produce an actuarial report of the recommendations no later than July 1, 2022. This bill would extend those deadlines to January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, respectively. The bill would repeal these provisions on July 1, 2024. Existing law requires an insurer to cooperate with the Department of Child Support Services and to identify and report a claimant to that department if a claim seeks an economic benefit for an obligor who owes past-due child support. Existing law defines an economic benefit under a life insurance policy, disability income insurance policy, or annuity to mean a payment totaling at least $1,000 in which an individual is paid as the payee or copayee for, among other, specified payments, a loan against the cash value or surrender value of an insurance policy or annuity, including loans for premium payments. This bill would revise that definition by excluding loans for premium payments. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.