The Public Records Act and Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
The Public Records Act (PRA) requires state agencies to make records available to the public unless expressly exempted from disclosure or otherwise made confidential in statute.
Documents Not Subject to Disclosure.
Under the Washington Insurance Code, the following are deemed confidential, privileged, and not subject to disclosure under the PRA:
Documents the Office of the Insurance Commissioner May Disclose or Share.
The OIC may share and receive confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information with: (1) the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; and (2) national or state regulatory and law enforcement officials, the federal government, and international authorities if confidentiality is maintained. The OIC may enter into agreements governing the sharing and use of the foregoing information, consistent with the Insurance Code.
The OIC may disclose, if cited in connection with an agency action, working papers, documents, materials, or information produced by, obtained by, or disclosed to the OIC in the course of a financial or market conduct examination, or in the course of a financial analysis or market conduct desk audit. Agency action refers to licensing, the implementation or enforcement of a statute, the adoption or application of an agency rule or order, the imposition of sanctions, or the granting or withholding of benefits. It does not include agency decisions related to contracting and procurement, disputes related to collective bargaining, property transactions, or granting of a license or permission to use an agency trademark. Parties involved must be notified within five business days before disclosure. The notified party may seek injunctive relief in any Washington state superior court to prevent disclosure it believes is confidential or privileged.
New Exemptions from the Public Records Act.
The following are deemed confidential, privileged, and exempt from disclosure under the PRA:
Use of Data in Aggregate.
The OIC may use data received from P&C entities for reports, analysis, and other documents, if used in the aggregate form without identifying individual companies. Data in the aggregate form is available for public inspection.
Permissible Disclosure of Confidential and Privileged Information by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
State agencies may receive confidential and privileged documents, materials, and information from the OIC if confidentiality is maintained.
(In support) This bill came forward based on discussions about data that is not protected when it gets to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC). This bill is needed to provide exemptions to the Public Records Act (PRA) for certain information and documents. Exemptions to the PRA are not taken lightly, and interested parties were engaged right away because there is a desire to make sure this issue is analyzed correctly.
The OIC needs the information covered in this bill and needs to be able to share it with certain agencies in case of emergencies, but there is a desire not to compromise competition and proprietary information at the same time. This policy is not about keeping information from the public, but helping the people in this state in times of emergencies.
The OIC wants to be a responsible regulator and this policy is not covering data from the OIC, but data from insurance companies. The OIC agrees that to maintain competitive integrity, company data should be confidential from public disclosure and from their competitors. There is authority in current law to collect from insurance companies the information contemplated in this bill, but the OIC has been reluctant to use that authority because of the disclosure issues.
(Opposed) None.
Senator Patty Kuderer, prime sponsor; Jean Leonard, Washington Insurers, Nationwide Insurance, and State Farm Insurance; and Bryon Welch, Office of the Insurance Commissioner.