TALHI Bill Action
SB 561, the NCOIL Unclaimed Life Benefits Model, has been sent to the Governor for his signature. TALHI successfully deflected amendments to this legislation and it passed cleanly as the NCOIL Model with ACLI enhancements. The provisions apply to policies sold on or after January 1, 2018. Two of TALHI's other priorities, HB 1073 (PWA clean up) and HB 1197 (temp license training time), are both on the Senate Local/Uncontested Calendar today and are expected to pass without issue. 

SB 507 Balance Billing Mediation is also headed for the Governor's desk. SB 1070 Credit for Reinsurance Model Act: the Senate has opted to go to a conference committee with the House on changes made to the Reinsurance Model during the process. We'll keep you updated any developments.

The "anti-NAIC" and "anti-covered agreement" bills, SB 1449 and SB 1450, are scheduled for hearing in House Insurance on Tuesday. TALHI has distributed this one-pager to committee members and are making visits to express our concerns. Both Jay Thompson and Jennifer Cawley plan to testify on Tuesday.

LIPAC Needs Your Support
You should have recently received our annual solicitation for the TALHI Life Insurance Political Action Committee (TALHI LIPAC), TALHI's political fundraising arm. Given the complexity of our issues and the importance of our industry being understood, TALHI LIPAC is critical to building relationships and supporting candidates who will be fair and open-minded on insurance.

Thank you to those companies who have already sent in donations or asked for invoices upon receiving our recent mailout. Members who support TALHI LIPAC at the $1000 or higher level are recognized each year as Incentive Program participants, which includes an invitation to the LIPAC Appreciation Dinner held at the Round Up Annual Meeting. For more information on how you can participate, click here or contact us.

TDI Rule Amendments
The Texas Department of Insurance adopted amendments to 28 TAC Chapter 3, Subchapter X, Division 1, §3.3705, relating to Nature of Communications with Insureds; Readability, Mandatory Disclosure Requirements, and Plan Designations. The amendments are adopted without changes to the proposed text as published in the December 9, 2016, issue of the Texas Register (41 TexReg 9693).

TALHI Member Call Next Week
The next TALHI member call will be held on Wednesday, May 17, at 10 am Central. To call in, dial 1-888-537-7715 and enter code 444-888-999# when prompted. An agenda will be posted next week.