In This Issue:

- STATE EFFORTS TO RESTRICT HEALTH INSURER USE OF “MOST FAVORED NATION” CLAUSES IN PROVIDER CONTRACTS CONTINUE TO MULTIPLY:

Over the last several years, several states have considered legislation that prohibits health insurers from including “most favored nation” clauses – provisions that guarantee the insurer is receiving as favorable a reimbursement rate from the provider as it offers any other insurer – in their provider contracts...

- GEORGIA FEDERAL COURT SEEKS GUIDANCE FROM THE GEORGIA SUPREME COURT ON THE APPLICATION OF THE “FILED RATE DOCTRINE” TO RATE FILINGS MADE PURSUANT TO A “FILE AND USE” REGULATORY SCHEME:

On March 27, in Roberts v. Wells Fargo N.A., District Court Judge Avant Edenfield (Southern District of Georgia) certified a question of first impression for decision by the Georgia Supreme Court. The issue concerns the application of the “Filed Rate Doctrine” to insurance rates filed with the Georgia Insurance Commissioner pursuant to the state’s “file and use” rate filing system...

- AUTO INSURER TRADE GROUPS APPLAUD THE INTRODUCTION OF THE “PARTS ACT” AS A STEP TOWARDS GREATER COMPETITION IN THE COLLISION PARTS REPLACEMENT INDUSTRY AND REDUCED INSURER COSTS:

In late April, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) in the House of Representatives, and Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in the Senate, announced that they were introducing the “Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade and Sales (PARTS) Act of 2013” (H.R. 1663)...

- CALIFORNIA COURT HOLDS THAT THE MCCARRAN FERGUSON ACT DOES NOT “REVERSE PREEMPT” PLAINTIFF’S RICO CLAIMS AGAINST INSURER:

In early March, Central District of California District Court Judge Christina Snyder issued a significant McCarran-Ferguson Act decision in Negrete v. Allianz Life Insurance. Siding with the Third, Fourth and Tenth Circuits on an issue that has split the circuits, Judge Snyder held that the plaintiffs’ class action RICO claims against Allianz were not barred by the McCarran Ferguson Act’s “reverse preemption” principles...