Northeast Zone
Maine
Bulletin 481, dated Dec.11, 2024, addresses the guaranteed issue rights for consumers when their Medicare Advantage Plan is discontinued in their service area This bulletin reminds insurers “that pursuant to Rule Chapter 275, a consumer is eligible for guaranteed issue of any Medicare Supplement plan currently sold in Maine if the consumer is enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan that ceases to provide benefits in the consumer's service area. This is true regardless of how long the consumer was enrolled in the Medicare Advantage plan before its termination.” Additionally, under Rule Chapter 275, “consumers have 90 days from the date of Medicare Advantage plan termination to enroll in the Medicare Supplement plan of their choice. The policy must be issued without underwriting or the imposition of any pre-existing condition exclusion.”
Massachusetts
Bulletin 2024-11, dated Dec. 9, 2024, provides guidance regarding managing the financial risks associated with climate change with reference to the Massachusetts Executive Order No. 604 titled “Establishing the Office Of Climate Innovation and Resilience Within the Office Of the Governor.” The Climate Chief (a state cabinet-level position tasked with implementing a whole-of-government approach to addressing climate change) recommended that the Division of Insurance "continue to engage with other states and regulatory standard-setting bodies and accelerate its efforts to coordinate an appropriate climate-related risk and resiliency framework for the regulation and oversight of the Massachusetts insurance market." Bulletin 2024-11 further provides that the Division “expects insurers to take a strategic approach to managing climate risks that considers both current and future risks and identifies actions necessary to manage those risks in a manner proportionate to the nature, scale, and complexity of insurers' businesses. In accordance with this Bulletin, an insurer should:
Integrate the consideration of climate risks into its governance structure at the group or insurer entity level. The insurer's board should understand climate risks and maintain oversight over the management team responsible for managing climate risks. The roles of the board and management should be reflected in the company's organizational structure and define its risk appetite and risk tolerance;
Incorporate climate risks into the insurer's existing financial risk management. This should include embedding climate risks in its risk management framework and analyzing the impact of climate risks on existing risk factors;
Be prepared to discuss climate risks with the Division at the insurer's annual meeting, or as requested by the Division. Annual meeting topics will include, but not be limited to, strategy around investment and underwriting activity;
Appropriately disclose its climate risks and engage with the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD"), the NAIC Climate Risk Disclosure Survey (if applicable), and other initiatives when developing its disclosure approaches;
Ensure compliance with the NAIC's Own Risk and Solvency Assessment ("ORSA") Guidance Manual, if applicable; and
Use scenario analysis to inform business strategies and risk assessment and identification. Scenarios should consider physical and transition risks, multiple carbon emissions and temperature pathways, and short, medium, and long-term horizons.”
The Division’s expectations regarding proportionate approach and materiality, as well as risk culture and board governance, risk appetite, organizational structure, risk management and controls, risk reporting and communication, public disclosure, and timeline for implementation are also detailed in this Bulletin
New York
AB 10344 creates a new section in the New York Insurance Code, numbered § 3416, titled Parametric insurance. Specific requirements concerning policyholder disclosures and applicability became effective Jan. 12, 2025. Those requirements are as follows: Except as provided in § 3416 (b), an insurer that issues a parametric insurance policy shall disclose the following information in the application for the insurance policy and in a prominent writing upon policy issuance and renewal:
The policy is not a substitute for property insurance or flood insurance, as relevant, which generally provide more comprehensive coverage in the event of a loss; and
A mortgagee or loss payee may not accept a parametric insurance policy.
The reference to exceptions under § 3416 (b) above reads as follows: An excess line broker who procures a parametric insurance policy pursuant to section two thousand one hundred five of this chapter shall provide the disclosures required by subsection (a) of this section on behalf of the insurer.
Southeast Zone
Midwest Zone
Western Zone
Kathy Donovan is Senior Compliance Counsel, insurance with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. Kathy has more than two decades of experience in insurance compliance. Her expert commentary on legal and regulatory issues affecting the insurance industry is widely published and she is a regular presenter at various industry events.
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