February 16th – 19th
Rep. Jim Dunnigan
During the fourth week of the legislative session, legislators were given final budget figures with state revenues estimated to be an additional $50 million short in the next fiscal year. House Budget Chairman Ron Bigelow says the budget gap for next year now stands at $700 million and that revenue estimates could have been worse and that this means Utah has seen the worst of it.
1S.H.B. 39 – Insurance Related Amendments – Feb. 19th 2010 – 73/0 – Sponsored by Rep. James A. Dunnigan (R-Taylorsville)
This bill modifies the Insurance Code and related provisions to make various amendments including the following:
- Mental health provisions were revised to come into compliance with recent federal legislation.
- New provisions were needed to provide a new special enrollment to ensure persons whose Utah mini-COBRA have terminated will have the same right under state law as under the recent federal extension of Federal COBRA. This will allow employees involuntarily terminated from a small employer to continue their health insurance for up to 15 months with the Federal Government paying 65% of the cost.
- A vehicle owned or leased by a named insured, a named spouse, or a dependent of a named insured is now included in the definition “under-insured motor vehicle.”
- The bill also provides that an individual health insurance policy, group health insurance policy, or health maintenance organization, shall continue force coverage for a dependent through the last day of the month in which the dependent ceases to be a dependent. This will help dependent children who upon marriage or turning age 26, lose coverage as of the day of the event. This bill provides that the coverage will continue until the end of the month in which the event occurs.