Rhode Island § 27-36-2 - Consumer Representation at Rate Hearings

§ 27-36-2. Annual assessments of insurance companies.

(a) The director of the department of business regulation shall make an annual assessment against each insurance company, those corporations and other entities subject to this title and chapter 62 of title 42, hereafter referred to as a “company,” for payment of all reasonable expenditures incurred by the attorney general in representation at insurance rate hearings for matters involving insurance regulation. The assessments shall be in amounts annually determined and certified by the attorney general to the director of the department of business regulation as sufficient reimbursement for the general expenditures of the attorney general to fulfill the attorney general’s obligations under this chapter. The general expenditures shall be proportionately assessed by the director of the department of business regulation against each company. In addition, actual reasonable costs for experts, such as but not limited to actuaries and economists, and other specific costs incurred by the attorney general related to insurance rate hearings, whether or not a public hearing has been held or the rate review has proceeded through a final decision by the department of business regulation or office of the health insurance commissioner, shall be billed directly by the attorney general to the company that initiated the filing.

(b) The company billed for these specific costs shall make payment to the attorney general by forwarding a check, payable to the service provider, to the chief of the insurance advocacy unit of the attorney general’s office within sixty (60) days of the date invoiced. Assessments made pursuant to this section may be credited to the normal operating costs of each company and shall be deposited as general revenue.