Colorado § 10-1-108 - Duties of commissioner - reports - publications - fees - disposition of funds - adoption of rules - examinations and investigations.

§ 10-1-108. Duties of commissioner - reports - publications - fees - disposition of funds - adoption of rules - examinations and investigations.

(1) It is the duty of the commissioner to:

(a) File in offices of the division, and safely keep, all books and papers required by law to be filed therein and to keep and preserve in permanent form a full record of the commissioner's proceedings, including a concise statement of the condition of such insurance companies reported to or examined by the commissioner;

(b) Issue certificates of authority to transact insurance business to any insurance companies that fully comply with the laws of this state;

(c) Issue such other certificates as required by law in the organization of insurance companies and the transaction of the business of insurance; and

(d) Generally, do and perform with justice and impartiality all such duties as are or may be imposed on the commissioner by the laws in relation to the business of insurance in this state.

(2) The commissioner shall require every domestic insurance company to keep its books, records, accounts, and vouchers in such a manner that the commissioner or the commissioner's authorized representatives may readily verify its annual statements and ascertain whether the company is solvent and has complied with the provisions of law. The commissioner shall annually make a tabular statement and synopsis of the several statements as accepted by the commissioner.

(3) The commissioner shall furnish to all insurance companies doing business in this state blanks for the filing of statements as required by law. The commissioner, on retiring from office, shall deliver to his or her qualified successor all furniture, papers, and property pertaining to the commissioner's office.

(4) It is the duty of the commissioner to examine all requests and applications for licenses to be issued under the authority of part 4 of article 2 of this title, and the commissioner is authorized to refuse to issue any such licenses until the commissioner is satisfied of the qualifications and general fitness of the applicant in accordance with the requirements of the insurance laws.

(5) It is the duty of the commissioner to make such investigations and examinations as are authorized by this title (except article 15) and article 14 of title 24, C.R.S., and to investigate such information as is presented to the commissioner by authority that the commissioner believes to be reliable pertaining to violation of the insurance laws of Colorado, and it is the commissioner's duty to present the result of such investigations and examinations for further investigation and prosecution to either the district attorney of the proper judicial district or the attorney general when, in the commissioner's opinion, such violations justify such action.

(6) Any publication circulated in quantity outside the executive branch shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of section 24-1-136, C.R.S.

(7) (a) It is the duty and responsibility of the commissioner to supervise the business of insurance in this state to assure that it is conducted in accordance with the laws of this state and in such a manner as to protect policyholders and the general public.

(b) In complying with this subsection (7), the commissioner shall:

(I) Encourage the fair treatment of health-care providers, including primary care providers;

(II) Encourage policies and developments, including increased investments in primary care, that decrease health disparities and improve the quality, efficiency, and affordability of health-care service delivery and outcomes; and

(III) View the health-care system as a comprehensive entity and encourage and direct health insurers toward policies that advance the welfare of the public through overall efficiency, affordability, improved health-care quality, and appropriate access.

(8) It is the duty of the commissioner to examine all requests and applications from insurers for certificates of authority to be issued pursuant to section 10-3-105. The commissioner is authorized to refuse to issue any such certificates of authority until the commissioner is reasonably satisfied as to the qualifications and general fitness of the insurer to comply with the requirements of the provisions of this title (except article 15) and article 14 of title 24, C.R.S.

(9) It is the duty of the commissioner to transmit all surcharges, costs, taxes, penalties, and fines collected by the division of insurance under any provision of this title (except article 15) and article 14 of title 24, C.R.S., to the department of the treasury. All funds so transmitted shall be credited to the general fund; except that any funds collected by the commissioner as reimbursement for out-of-state travel costs in conjunction with the examination of an insurance company or with an activity to improve regulation of insurance companies are hereby continuously appropriated to the division of insurance in addition to any other funds appropriated for its normal operation.

(10) It is the duty of the commissioner to encourage the dissemination to the public of general information concerning insurance by those engaged in the business of insurance, so as to work toward informed choices of insurance needs and options.

(11) It is the duty of the commissioner to evaluate insurance policies for long-term care to determine their compliance with the provisions of article 19 of this title and to provide insurance companies with a written statement indicating the results of such determination.

(12) It is the duty of the commissioner to oversee the operation of electronic data interchange projects for purposes of uniform billing and electronic data exchange for health benefit coverages in Colorado. In carrying out such duties, the commissioner shall coordinate with the departments of labor and employment, public health and environment, and health care policy and financing, as appropriate.

(13) (a) If determined appropriate for purposes of licensure of provider networks and individual providers as provided in section 6-18-302 (1)(b), C.R.S., the commissioner may adopt rules after consultation with providers and other appropriate persons that set forth standards or requirements specific to licensed provider networks or licensed individual providers concerning solvency and operational capacity or the performance of services consistent with the extent of risk being accepted by the licensed provider network or licensed individual provider.

(b) In determining the need for and the content of such rules, the commissioner shall take into consideration:

(I) The differences between licensed provider networks or licensed individual providers and the type, amount, and extent of risk they accept and services they provide as compared with that accepted by traditional sickness and accident insurers, nonprofit hospital, medical-surgical, and health service corporations, and health maintenance organizations;

(II) The types of information the commissioner would need to assess a provider network or individual provider's ability to accept and manage risk and monitor material changes in the financial solvency or operational capabilities of a provider network or individual provider;

(III) The need to protect consumers, monitor the financial solvency of licensed provider networks and licensed individual providers, and assure the provision of services to consumers, including reasonable access to coverage, according to contractual obligations; and

(IV) Whether such rules would give a licensed provider network or licensed individual provider an unreasonable competitive advantage or disadvantage as compared to traditional insurers, nonprofit hospital, medical-surgical, and health service corporations, and health maintenance organizations offering similar products under similar circumstances.

(c) The commissioner may also consider whether rates are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.

(d) The commissioner may establish a fee to cover the direct and indirect costs of the regulation of provider networks pursuant to the provisions of this subsection (13) and part 3 of article 18 of title 6, C.R.S.

Source: L. 2003: Entire article RC&RE, p. 593, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2004: (5), (8), and (9) amended, p. 897, § 6, effective May 21. L. 2012: (5), (8), and (9) amended, (HB 12-1266), ch. 280, p. 1492, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2019: (7) amended, (HB 19-1233), ch. 194, p. 2121, § 3, effective May 16.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 10-1-108 as it existed prior to 2002.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 19-1233, see section 1 of chapter 194, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 10-1-108 is similar to § 10-1-108 as it existed prior to the 2002 repeal of article 1 of title 10, relevant cases construing that provision have been included in the annotations to this section.

Title insurance companies subject to commissioner's general regulatory powers. Both domestic and foreign title insurance companies are and have been subject to the general regulatory powers vested in the state insurance commissioner. Commander Leasing Co. v. Transamerica Title Ins. Co., 477 F.2d 77 (10th Cir. 1973).

Insurance commissioner's authority is broad and necessarily includes the authority to determine whether an insurance company has acted in bad faith. Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Colo. Div. of Ins., 824 P.2d 76 (Colo. App. 1991).

The division of insurance's jurisdiction to investigate and regulate state-licensed insurance producers that provide immigration bonds is not preempted by federal law. Colo. Div. of Ins. v. Statewide Bonding, 2022 COA 67, 518 P.3d 309.

Claims asserted against the state attorney general must be dismissed where the ground for the claim is that she is charged under Colorado law with enforcing Colorado's statutory provisions governing the business of insurance, including the enforcement of workers' compensation statutes, when in fact she is not responsible for enforcing either insurance or workers' compensation laws and may become involved in prosecuting related matters only at the request of the commissioner of insurance or the director of workers' compensation. Fuller v. Norton, 881 F. Supp. 468 (D. Colo. 1995).

The commissioner may award attorney fees under the common fund doctrine where it is necessary for the commissioner to discharge his or her responsibilities in an equitable conversion proceeding of a nonprofit corporation to a for-profit stock insurance company pursuant to §10-16-324 and if nothing prohibits such an award. However, the commissioner does not have discretion to award attorney fees for lobbying effort conducted prior to the establishment of the commissioner's authority to preside over the conversion proceeding. Hawes v. Colo. Div. of Ins., 65 P.3d 1008 (Colo. 2003).