Delaware House Bill 420 (Prior Session Legislation)

---

Completed Legislative Action
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-7)
Status: Passed on August 30 2010 - 100% progression
Action: 2010-08-30 - Signed by Governor
Text: Latest bill text (Draft #1) [HTML]

This Act is intended to prohibit the practice of “post-claims underwriting” by health insurers, as defined in Title 18 of the Delaware Code. Underwriting is the practice of determining, based upon information provided by an applicant for an insurance policy about the applicant’s health and background, whether the insurance company should offer the applicant a policy and, if so, what should be the terms and the cost of the policy. Health insurance underwriting normally is completed prior to the issuance of an insurance policy. Post claims underwriting is a practice whereby an insurance company fails to properly complete underwriting prior to issuing a policy, and instead waits until a claim is filed to determine that the insured was originally ineligible for the policy and rescind the policy, notwithstanding the fact that the insured has, in some instances, been paying premiums on the policy for several months or years. This Act prohibits rescissions of health insurance policies, as defined in the Act, based upon post-claims underwriting. This Act does not apply in instances where the insured knowingly misrepresented or omitted information which materially affects the risk of hazard assumed by the insurer.

An Act To Amend Title 18 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Health Insurance

Sen. Patricia Blevins [D]	Rep. Ruth Briggs King [R]	Rep. Ruth Briggs King [R]	Sen. Brian Bushweller [D]
Rep. Richard Cathcart [R]	Sen. Bruce Ennis [D]	Sen. Bethany Hall-Long [D]	Sen. Margaret Henry [D]
Sen. Gerald Hocker [R]	Rep. Earl Jaques [D]	Rep. Quinton Johnson [D]	Rep. Helene Keeley [D]
Rep. Thomas Kovach [R]	Rep. John Mitchell [D]	Rep. William Outten [R]	Rep. Darryl Scott [D]
Rep. Bryon Short [D]	Rep. Daniel Short [R]

2010-07-01 - House - House Third Reading (Y: 39 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 2) [PASS]
2010-06-30 - Senate - Senate Third Reading (Y: 20 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2010-06-15 - House - House Third Reading (Y: 39 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 2) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2010-08-30		Signed by Governor
2010-07-01		Passed by House of Representatives. Votes: Passed 39 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2010-06-30		Passed by Senate. Votes: Passed 20 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2010-06-30		Amendment SA 1 - Passed by Senate. Votes: Passed 20 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2010-06-30		Necessary rules are suspended in Senate
2010-06-24		Amendment SA 1 - Introduced and Placed With the Bill in Senate
2010-06-17		Assigned to Insurance Committee in Senate
2010-06-15		Passed by House of Representatives. Votes: Passed 39 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2010-06-15		Amendment HA 1 - Passed in House by Voice Vote
2010-06-15		Amendment HA 1 - Introduced in House
2010-06-09		Reported Out of Committee (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/BANKING/INSURANCE/COMMERCE) in House with 1 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits
2010-05-27		Introduced and Assigned to Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee in House

Type	Source
Summary	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/2bede841c6272c888025698400433a04/2f0550e5a1ef0c098525771900604db8?OpenDocument
Text	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+420/$file/legis.html?open
Roll Call	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/7712cf7cc0e9227a852568470077336f/685e99560f8ad08885257743007fc726?OpenDocument
Roll Call	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/7712cf7cc0e9227a852568470077336f/7f8038893d6c4f3585257753000160b8?OpenDocument
Roll Call	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/7712cf7cc0e9227a852568470077336f/ca2d32b6ff3f2b5d852577530018c60a?OpenDocument