PRINTER'S NO. 1043 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE BILL No.966 Session of 2025 INTRODUCED BY VENKAT, FRIEL, KOSIEROWSKI, MEHAFFIE, KHAN, WEBSTER, PIELLI, HARKINS, MADDEN, GIRAL, McNEILL, STEELE, FRANKEL, INGLIS, MAYES, SALISBURY, BENHAM, PROBST, HILL- EVANS, CERRATO, BOROWSKI, SANCHEZ, CARROLL, FREEMAN, RIVERA, BRENNAN, RABB, HADDOCK, GUENST, HOWARD, KENYATTA AND HANBIDGE, MARCH 19, 2025 REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE, MARCH 19, 2025 AN ACT Amending the act of May 17, 1921 (P.L.682, No.284), entitled "An act relating to insurance; amending, revising, and consolidating the law providing for the incorporation of insurance companies, and the regulation, supervision, and protection of home and foreign insurance companies, Lloyds associations, reciprocal and inter-insurance exchanges, and fire insurance rating bureaus, and the regulation and supervision of insurance carried by such companies, associations, and exchanges, including insurance carried by the State Workmen's Insurance Fund; providing penalties; and repealing existing laws," in quality health care accountability and protection, further providing for departmental powers and duties and providing for additional penalties. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows: Section 1. Section 2181(f) of the act of May 17, 1921 (P.L.682, No.284), known as The Insurance Company Law of 1921, is amended to read: Section 2181. Departmental Powers and Duties.--* * * (f) The department shall submit an annual report to the chairperson and minority chairperson of the Banking and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Insurance Committee of the Senate and the chairperson and minority chairperson of the Insurance Committee of the House of Representatives regarding the implementation, operation and enforcement of this article, including the aggregate data the department has compiled under subsection (b). The department shall post the report on the department's publicly accessible Internet website. Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read: Section 2182.1. Additional Penalties.--(a) The department shall order an insurer to pay penalties in accordance with subsection (b) whenever the aggregated data compiled under section 2181(b) shows that more than fifty per centum (50%) of all adverse benefit determinations, excluding administrative denials, issued by the insurer in a calendar year were overturned through the insurer's internal claim and appeal procedures specified in section 2164 or the external review processes specified in section 2164.5, 2164.6 or 2164.7. (b) The department shall order an insurer to pay a penalty for each overturned adverse benefit determination in excess of the threshold specified in subsection (a) as follows: (1) For the first overturned adverse benefit determination, fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). (2) For the second overturned adverse benefit determination, one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). (3) For the third and each subsequent overturned adverse benefit determination, two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000). (c) Penalties collected by the department under this section shall be used by the department for consumer protection activities. 20250HB0966PN1043 - 2 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 (d) The penalties under this section shall be in addition to any other penalty or remedy imposed under any other applicable statute. Section 3. This act shall take effect in six months. 20250HB0966PN1043 - 3 - 1 2 3 4