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Risk managers to blanket Congress on insurance legislation

Posted On: Jun. 7, 2016 12:00 AM CST

Risk managers to blanket Congress on insurance legislation

WASHINGTON — Creating a uniform notification standard for cyber breaches is one of the efforts risk managers will champion as they stress their support for three legislative initiatives during visits to lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

The visits are part of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.'s annual legislative summit in Washington, which began Monday. On Monday, RIMS President Julie Pemberton listed three priorities for this Congress and one for next year.

Risk managers are expressing support for two pieces of cyber security legislation — The Data Security Notification Act of 2015, S. 177 and H.R. 1770 and the Data Security Act of 2015, S. 961 and H.R. 2205. Both bills would replace the myriad state breach notification laws with a national standard.

In addition, participants in the summit are supporting the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2015, H.R. 3765. In an issue briefing, RIMS said the bill, which addresses some lawsuits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act, “puts an emphasis on compliance and improved access, allowing business owners and property owners the reasonable time needed to correct or make substantial progress in correcting an identified violation.” There is no companion legislation in the Senate.

The third initiative is the Captive Insurers Clarification Act, S. 1561. The bill would officially omit captive insurers from the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act. The act failed to explicitly exclude captives from the definition of “nonadmitted insurers,” which leaves “insureds unclear on whether independent procurement taxes on the insurance purchased from their captive must be paid to their home state in addition to the captive domicile,” according to a RIMS issue brief. No companion legislation has be introduced in the House.

In addition, Ms. Pemberton said that RIMS is also preparing for the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance program in 2017. Although no reauthorization legislation has been introduced, RIMS believes, among other things, that reauthorization should include continuing to move toward risk-based premiums and emphasizing updating the Federal Emergency Management Agency maps.