July 07, 2009

New Law Increases State’s Efforts to Control Health Insurance Costs

DOVER – Premiums insurance companies charge Delawareans for medical coverage will now receive the same scrutiny from state regulators as auto, homeowners and workers compensation policies.

Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 35, which Gov. Jack Markell signed into law earlier this week, gives Delaware’s Insurance Department the authority to regulate health insurance premiums. The department now has the authority to ultimately reject proposed premium increases if the company cannot justify the hike in rates.

“This law will protect Delawareans who are already being squeezed by rising insurance costs,” Markell said. “While the federal government continues working on how to reform the nation’s health care system, we can take concrete actions in Delaware to hold down costs and make insurance more affordable. I want to congratulate Lt. Gov. Matt Denn and Sen. Patricia Blevins for their hard work on this issue.”

Denn, who served as Insurance Commissioner from 2005-2009, and Blevins, who chairs the Senate Insurance Committee, introduced this legislation several times before it was finally sent to the Governor’s desk this year.

“I am very pleased that after four years of hard work and many roadblocks, Senator Blevins was able to see this bill that she and I wrote through the legislature,” Denn said. “It is a testament to her dedication to affordable health care.”