Ch. 348                                    1996 LAWS OF MARYLAND

CHAPTER 348
(House Bill 264)

AN ACT concerning

Automobile Insurance Rate Redaction Act of 1996 Insurance Fraud

FOR the purpose of reducing the cost of automobile insurance; prohibiting certain
persons from employing or compensating others for the purpose of soliciting or
attempting to solicit clients for those persons; prohibiting a person from soliciting,
for personal gain, another person to sue or to retain a lawyer; authorizing certain
actions against certain insurers under certain circumstances prohibiting a person
from soliciting, for personal gain, another person to seek health care from a health
care practitioner; requiring that the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland
Insurance Administration notify certain professional licensing boards or disciplinary
bodies of evidence of insurance fraud or gross overutilization of health care
services; requiring that certain professional licensing boards revoke the license of
licensees convicted of insurance fraud; authorizing the Insurance Commissioner to
determine that certain automobile insurance rates are excessive under certain
circumstances; requiring certain insurers to verify certain data under certain
circumstances; permitting certain automobile insurance coverages to be waived
under certain circumstances; requiring certain insurers to offer certain insurance
benefits as managed care benefits; authorizing certain insurers to offer certain
benefits as managed care benefits; clarifying that an insurer paying certain benefits
shall be primary to insurers paying certain collateral benefits, and that the insurer
paying collateral benefits may collect from the primary insurer under certain
circumstances; providing that payments and charges for soft tissue injuries may not
exceed a certain amount under certain circumstances; providing that certain
insurers shall contract with peer review organizations for the purpose of reviewing
certain claims; establishing procedures for the use of peer review organizations;
requiring that certain payments of automobile insurance benefits shall be reduced
by the amount of certain collateral benefits under certain circumstances; requiring
evidence of physical contact before benefits for uninsured motorist coverage under
an automobile insurance policy may be paid; limiting written communications by
lawyers to perspective clients under certain circumstances; requiring the Health
Care Access and Cost Commission to develop a payment system for soft tissue
injuries by a certain date; requiring the Health Care Access and Cost Commission to
adopt regulations establishing practice parameters for soft tissue injuries by a
certain date; providing for the use of the payment system and practice parameters
by automobile insurers; limiting the right of a person operating a vehicle without
insurance to recover certain losses under certain circumstances; authorizing an
insurer to cancel and rescind an insurance policy or to deny first-party benefits, to
an insured who has made certain misrepresentations in the application for
automobile insurance under certain circumstances; establishing a pilot program for
an accident reporting unit in Baltimore City; defining certain terms; and generally
relating to efforts to reduce the costs of and reform automobile insurance insurance
fraud.

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