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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND ECONOMIC GROWTH OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE REGULATION
ELECTRONIC RATE AND FORM FILING AND
AMENDMENT OF 97-010-M EXEMPTION ORDER
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Thursday, May 29, 2008 Michigan Library and Historical Center
702 West Kalamazoo Street Lansing, MI 48915
Forum, Ground Floor – 9:00 a.m.
Ken Ross, Commissioner of the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR), Department of Labor and Economic Growth, will hold a public hearing on Thursday, May 29, 2008, starting at 9 a.m., in the Forum on the ground floor of the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 West Kalamazoo Street, Lansing, MI 48915, to receive written and oral comments that will assist him in determining whether to require insurers to file policy forms, rules, and rates electronically via the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing (SERFF) and also whether to amend or modify Exemption Order 97- 010-M to require insurers to submit additional policy forms to OFIR for prior approval before they are utilized in the market.
With regard to hearing issue number one, insurers currently have the choice either to mail required rule, rate, and policy form filings in paper format to OFIR or to sign up voluntarily with SERFF and submit all documents electronically to OFIR via SERFF. SERFF was developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) staff as a gateway for insurers to submit electronic filings to each state in a uniform manner while being able to meet necessary state regulations. States can sign up and receive service free of charge, and at this point (10 years after formation) nearly every state accepts SERFF filings. Insurers can also sign up, and the small startup and small transaction fees for each filing are likely to be less costly than making traditional paper filings.
On behalf of the member states, NAIC staff maintain SERFF filings and state communication and dispositions of those filings on data servers. SERFF allows each state to analyze and process electronic filings for approval/acceptability more efficiently than paper filings can be analyzed and processed. SERFF filings take up less physical space and allow analysts to work more efficiently by locating keywords and phrases in filed documents and to communicate filing disposition to insurers through the SERFF system. States can also use SERFF as a logging/tracking system to provide statistics that measure the types of filings and actions taken on filings. More in-depth information can be found at http://www.serff.org/SERFF-Background.htm
With regard to hearing issue number two, Order No. 97-010-M exempted insurers from filing policy forms for most types of insurance. Bulletin 97-03 explained the particulars of the Exemption Order.
The Order and Bulletin are both available with this Public Hearing Notice at the OFIR website, www.michigan.gov/ofir
The Commissioner is seeking advice, insight, and input from consumers who purchase insurance products in Michigan, insurers who write insurance products in Michigan, from any public interest group, and from any independent person or source with information pertinent to these two hearing subjects.
The Commissioner will accept oral and written comments at the public hearing site until the close of the public hearing on May 29, 2008 and will accept written comments submitted electronically to Randy Parlor at parlorr@michigan.gov or faxed to 517-373-0549 by 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 30, 2008. Any comments that include statistics should also supply the source of the statistics.
Limited resources preclude the Commissioner from taking a position simply to review all policy forms, and the comments submitted should be based on the assumption that the Commissioner must prioritize and identify only those forms most in need of review to achieve the most positive consumer impact. Thus, the Commissioner is especially interested in receiving testimony concerning:
1) Pros and cons of mandating electronic filing of policy forms, rules, and rates via SERFF.
2) Which types of policy forms the Commissioner should continue to exempt from filing requirements under MCL 500.2236(8)(d) and why.
3) Which types of policy forms the Commissioner should not exempt from filing requirements under MCL 500.2236(8)(d) and why.
4) How the Commissioner should handle currently exempt policy forms in use if he amends the 1997 Exemption Order.
5) Policy form and/or rate provisions that merit particular attention when analyzing them for acceptability under Michigan law.
6) States with best practices in the area of policy form filings.
The hearing site is accessible, including handicapped parking. Individuals attending the meeting are requested to refrain from using heavily scented personal care products in order to enhance accessibility for everyone. People with disabilities requiring additional accommodations, such as information in alternative formats in order to participate in the hearing, should contact Randy Parlor toll free at (877)999-6442 or at (517)335-1712 as soon as possible, preferably 7 working days before the hearing.
