Bill Text: VA SJR312 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: JLARC; health benefit plan premium rate review process administered by the SCC's.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-01 - Passed by indefinitely in Rules by voice vote [SJR312 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-SJR312-Introduced.html
WHEREAS, the National Conference of State Legislatures has noted that nationwide average annual health benefit plan premiums for employer-based family coverage reached $19,616 and for single coverage rose to $6,896 in 2018; covered workers contributed 29 percent of the cost for family coverage and 18 percent for single coverage, on average; and
WHEREAS, Virginia is one of seven federally run exchange states that conduct their own plan management; and
WHEREAS, the State Corporation Commission is required to review and approve premium rates for all forms of health benefit plans; and
WHEREAS, the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance makes final recommendations of premium rate approvals to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and
WHEREAS, the National Conference of State Legislatures has noted that for those buying insurance on an exchange or private market plan for 2018, the average increase with subsidies was $201; and
WHEREAS, the rising premiums for health benefit plans is a central fact in any discussion of health policy and health delivery; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study the health benefit plan premium rate review process administered by the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance.
In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) shall (i) identify the extent to which premiums for private health benefit plans subject to Title 38.2 (Insurance) of the Code of Virginia in the individual, small group, and large group markets have increased over the past decade; (ii) compare the increases of premiums for such health benefit plans in the Commonwealth to such increases in other states; (iii) identify legislative and regulatory actions by other states that have been effective in reducing, or tempering the rate of increase in, the premiums for such health benefit plans; (iv) compare the health benefit plan premium rate review processes administered by other states; (v) review the structure and administration of the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance as it relates to the health benefit plan premium rate review process; and (vi) examine the role of public input in the health benefit plan premium rate review process.
Technical assistance shall be provided to JLARC by the State Corporation Commission. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to JLARC for this study, upon request.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2019, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2020 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the JLARC intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
