House Bill 1225
Concerning Colorado Motor Vehicle Insurance
(Posted March 13, 2003)

The following information, produced by Consumers United Association, is meant to inform our members about legislation that is currently under consideration. We urge our members to contact us as soon as possible (renee@cuacolorado.org) and let us know your views on this important change in auto insurance law. We want to ensure that the voices of our members are heard.

HB 1225 - Defeated
On February 20, 2003, we informed you about HB 1225. On Thursday, March 6, that bill was presented to the committee of the whole in the House of Representatives. The bill was defeated.

We wanted to inform our members about what took place regarding this bill because it affects everyone and the issue is not going away. We also wanted you to know what your Representatives and Senators are doing.

More background on 1225
This bill was drafted by the request of Governor Owens. His intentions were to decrease litigation and insurance costs. He has said that he will veto the renewal of no-fault insurance if this does not happen. What do you think of this? (Send comments to renee@cuacolorado.org).

Bill Sponsors

House sponsors:
Rep. Tambor Williams (R), District 50 (Weld) - original sponsor and drafter
Rep. Lola Spradley (R), District 60 (Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Park, Pueblo, Saguache)
Rep. Keith King (R), District 21 (El Paso)
Rep. Bill Cadman (R), District 15 (El Paso)
Rep. Suzanne Williams (D), District 41 (Arapahoe, Denver)

Senate sponsors:
Sen. Andy McElhany (R), District 12 (El Paso)
Sen. John Andrews (R), District 27 (Arapahoe)
Sen. Norma Anderson (R), District 22 (Jefferson)
Sen. David Owen (R), District 13 (Weld)

What happened on March 6:
As we told you before, this bill had many problems and we outlined some of them. Several Representatives presented 40 or more amendments to the bill in order to reduce the negative impacts on consumers.

Some of the highlights of some of the most important defeated amendments:

• Insurance companies would file for permission to increase rates prior to increases (they currently file after the rate increase). Rep. Tambor Williams said it would be too costly to do this. She said that there is "no insurance rate that is not approved by the insurance commissioner" already.
• Covering you for uninsured motorists if you ride in another vehicle. (This bill would have made it so that your insurance does not cover you for this when riding with someone else). Representative Williams said the focus of this bill was to keep insurance affordable and would not support this amendment.
• Cost for external review to be shared by insured and insurer, rather than by who requested the review.
• Disallowing the use of credit scores for insurance underwriting. The discussion on this was that we should not be telling corporations how to conduct business.
• Require insurance companies to provide information on all available plans offered in the state.
• Require insurance companies to reduce premiums for people who have perfect driving records for 5-15 years with gradually higher reductions. The response to this was "more regulation causes less availability."
• Rollback rates 20% next year. Argument against: can't predict if rates will be affected by this law and can't mandate it.
• Reduce PIP premium for multiple cars.
• Transfer unused medical benefits to rehabilitation. Rep. Williams said we are trying to discourage therapies that re not medically necessary (the "feel-good" stuff).

Highlights of amendments that passed:

• Include massage therapists and chiropractors.
• Include traumatic brain injury.
• Require companies to offer all plans.
• Cost savings reviewed regularly.
• Allow higher deductibles.

Who were the most prominent amendment presenters?
There were many and this list is not comprehensive, but the following representatives presented many of the amendments shown above:

Rep. Dorothy Butcher (D), District 46 (Pueblo)
Rep. Fran Coleman (D), District 1 (Arapahoe, Denver, Jefferson)
Rep. Angie Paccione, (D), District 53 (Larimer)
Rep. Jennifer Veiga (D), District 3 (Arapahoe, Denver)

Others presented some important ones, too:
Rep. Shawn Mitchell (R), District 33 (Adams, Boulder, Broomfield, Weld)
Rep. Lois Tochtrop (D), District 34 (Adams)

HB 1321 - Defeated

Another bill, HB 1321 was defeated in the House on Friday, March 14th. This bill offered what is known as a "Choice" system. Consumers would choose between a no-fault insurance or tort policy.

The main sponsor of this bill was Rep. Tom Weins (R).

What happens now?
This issue is not dead. At least two other bills are supposed to be in the works. A "modified tort" type (which means it will limit the amount people can get in a law suit) and "son of HB 1225".

What does Consumers United Association have to say about this?
Please review our editorial response to the Rocky Mountain News regarding auto insurance reform.

We want your comments:
How do you think our House Representatives performed on these bills? Send us your comments at RENEE@CUACOLORADO.ORG.

Consumers United Association (CUA) is a nonprofit consumer advocacy association serving consumers in Colorado. CUA is an association made up of people and corporations who are dedicated to educating consumers on financial issues, which impact their personal lives. CUA offers services and resources to aid consumers in the resolution of consumer problems and provide a united voice for consumers in the legislative arena. For more information visit www.cuacolorado.org.