This Report has been prepared in response to your letters requesting an analysis and recommendations regarding issues raised by House Bill 2444 (HB 2444) introduced in the 2019 Virginia General Assembly. The bill repeals provisions under which the State Corporation Commission regulates legal services plans and under which the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services regulates sellers of legal services plans. The measure also eliminates the premium tax assessed on legal services plans.

Based on both of your letter requests, this Report provides analysis of HB 2444, including seven specific areas of interest or impact related to HB 2444 outlined by Delegate Wilt, and provides the collective input of the Bureau of Insurance, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Virginia Department of Taxation concerning the issues raised by HB 2444.

In summary, based on our investigation, the Bureau of Insurance recommends either a delay in enactment of the provisions of HB 2444 until the two major legal services plan organizations agree on any changes to the current regulatory framework, or a determination is made to repeal the legal services plan provisions in such a way as to avoid a potential negative impact on general fund and non-general fund revenues.