Amend SB 1001 as follows:
(1) Add a new appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill,
appropriately renumbering subsequent SECTIONS, to read as follows:
SECTION ____. Subchapter D, Chapter 501, Insurance Code, is
amended by amending Sections 501.151 and 501.153 and adding Section
501.1605 to read as follows:
Sec. 501.151. POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICE. (a) The office:
(1) may assess the impact of insurance rates, rules,
and forms on insurance consumers in this state; [and]
(2) shall advocate in the office's own name positions
determined by the public counsel to be most advantageous to a
substantial number of insurance consumers; and
(3) shall accept from a small employer, an eligible
employee, or an eligible employee's dependent and, if appropriate,
refer to the commissioner, a complaint described by Section
501.1605.
(b) The decision to refer a complaint to the commissioner
under Subsection (a) is at the public counsel's sole discretion.
Sec. 501.153. AUTHORITY TO APPEAR, INTERVENE, OR INITIATE.
The public counsel:
(1) may appear or intervene, as a party or otherwise,
as a matter of right before the commissioner or department on behalf
of insurance consumers, as a class, in matters involving:
(A) rates, rules, and forms affecting:
(i) property and casualty insurance;
(ii) title insurance;
(iii) credit life insurance;
(iv) credit accident and health insurance;
or
(v) any other line of insurance for which
the commissioner or department promulgates, sets, adopts, or
approves rates, rules, or forms;
(B) rules affecting life, health, or accident
insurance; or
(C) withdrawal of approval of policy forms:
(i) in proceedings initiated by the
department under Sections 1701.055 and 1701.057; or
(ii) if the public counsel presents
persuasive evidence to the department that the forms do not comply
with this code, a rule adopted under this code, or any other law;
(2) may initiate or intervene as a matter of right or
otherwise appear in a judicial proceeding involving or arising from
an action taken by an administrative agency in a proceeding in which
the public counsel previously appeared under the authority granted
by this chapter;
(3) may appear or intervene, as a party or otherwise,
as a matter of right on behalf of insurance consumers as a class in
any proceeding in which the public counsel determines that
insurance consumers are in need of representation, except that the
public counsel may not intervene in an enforcement or parens
patriae proceeding brought by the attorney general; [and]
(4) may appear or intervene before the commissioner or
department as a party or otherwise on behalf of small commercial
insurance consumers, as a class, in a matter involving rates,
rules, or forms affecting commercial insurance consumers, as a
class, in any proceeding in which the public counsel determines
that small commercial consumers are in need of representation; and
(5) may appear before the commissioner on behalf of a
small employer, eligible employee, or eligible employee's
dependent in a complaint the office refers to the commissioner
under Section 501.1605.
Sec. 501.1605. COMPLAINT RESOLUTION FOR CERTAIN PREMIUM RATE
INCREASES. (a) A small employer, an eligible employee, or an
eligible employee's dependent may file a complaint with the office
alleging that a rate is excessive for the risks to which the rate
applies, if the percentage increase in the premium rate charged to a
small employer under Subchapter E, Chapter 1501, for a new rating
period exceeds 20 percent.
(b) The office shall refer a complaint received under
Subsection (a) to the commissioner if the office determines that
the complaint substantially attests to a rate charged that is
excessive for the risks to which the rate applies. A rate may not be
considered excessive for the risks to which the rate applies solely
because the percentage increase in the premium rate charged exceeds
the percentage described by Subsection (a).
(c) With respect to a complaint filed under Subsection (a),
the office may issue a subpoena applicable throughout the state
that requires the production of records.
(d) On application of the office in the case of disobedience
of a subpoena, a district court may issue an order requiring any
individual or person, including a small employer health benefit
plan issuer described by Section 1501.002, that is subpoenaed to
obey the subpoena and produce records, if the individual or person
has refused to do so. An application under this subsection must be
made in a district court in Travis County.