Page 7 - Delaware Department of Insurance

More than a dozen bills the Department of Insurance advocated for through the General Assembly in 2019 will protect Delawareans in the years ahead, including new laws that will assess costs of care and enact cybersecurity protections.
Members of the General Assembly passed Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 116, which authorized creation of the department’s new Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery. The office, which was a recommendation of the Primary Care Reform Collaborative,
is tasked with evaluating the high costs of care in Delaware.
The department is actively recruiting for a qualified independent contractor to staff
and run the new office, which will assist Commissioner Navarro and Delaware’s Primary Care Reform Collaborative in evaluating primary care accessibility and affordability statewide.
As noted on page 5, Gov. John Carney signed the Delaware Insurance Data Security Act
at the end of July, establishing
a comprehensive regulatory framework requiring insurers licensed to do business in Delaware to implement information security programs; report instances of data breaches in a prescribed timely manner to the Commissioner and consumers, and empowers
the department to investigate violations of the Act and levy penalties accordingly.
“When hardworking consumers
entrust their personal information
to their insurance companies,
they have a reasonable expectation that their carriers
will do everything they can to safeguard that information,” Commissioner Navarro said. “Over the past several years, we have seen time and again consumers’ information be compromised or stolen by hackers’ cyber threats to insurers. By codifying a regulatory standard that requires all insurance licensees in Delaware to implement information security programs and timely report data breaches to the Department and consumers, HB 174 enhances Delaware’s consumer protection measures to hold companies accountable and
give consumers the peace of mind that they deserve.”
Legislative update
A busy year (2019 by the numbers)
Staffing
• Merit Employees: 88
• Part Time Employees: 8
Workplace Safety
• Number of Employers: 1,119
• Employer Premium Total:
$72.9 million
• Safety Credit Total: $7.6 million
Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollment
• Delaware enrollment: 23,981 (6.3% increase over previous year)
• Decrease in monthly premiums: 19% (average)
• Providers:
• Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Delaware (8 plans)
• Delta Dental of Delaware
and Dominion Dental Services
(11 stand-alone plans)
Market Conduct and Licensing
• Total Active Licensees (Individual Resident and Non-Resident): 169,541
• Total Licenses Issued for 2019:
34,091
• Total Exams Completed: 20 • Exams in progress: 55
• Penalties: $675,000+
Rates and Forms Filings
• Property and Casualty: 31,313 • Life and Health: 8,209
Consumer Services
• Legislative/Commissioner/ Inquiries: 99
• Total of Inquiries and Complaints:
4,250+
• Inquiries Assigned for Review:
3,583
• Life and Health: 1,773
• Property and Casualty: 1,810
Medicare Assistance Bureau
• One-on-one Counseling Sessions:
4,890
• New Calls Taken During Open Enrollment: 200 per day
Arbitration Services
• New Cases Opened: 406
• Settlements: 336 cases, with
total awards of $779,000+
Fraud
• Referrals: 542
• Cases Filed: 531 civil cases
and 15 criminal charges
(six arrests)
• Civil Penalties: $20,000+
Legal Division
• Bulletins Issued or Revised: 19 • New Regulations: 11
Bureau of Examination, Rehabilitation, and Guaranty (BERG)
• Insurance Companies Incorporated: 140 ($605.1 billion in assets)
• Additional Companies Doing Business in Delaware: 1,900
• Analyst Reviews: 45 financial exams
• 871 additional projects Captive Insurance
• Revenue/expense in 2019:
$5.6 million/$2.9 million
• New licenses: 56
• Total active companies: 882
*Data compiled December 2019.
Delaware Department of Insurance | 7