SESSION OF 2019
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 109
As Recommended by Senate Committee on
Financial Institutions and Insurance

Brief*
SB 109 would repeal the Kansas Uninsurable Health
Insurance Plan Act (Act), also known as the State’s high risk
pool. The bill would also remove a provision from law treating
individuals and enrollees whose coverage has been
involuntary terminated because of the insolvency of that
individual’s or enrollee’s health maintenance organization as
the equivalent of a “federally defined eligible individual” for
the purposes of the Act.

Background
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Financial Institutions and Insurance at the request of the
Kansas Insurance Department (Department).
In the Senate Committee hearing, a representative of
the Department spoke in favor of the bill, stating the bill would
remove language no longer in effect. The representative
provided background information on the Kansas Health
Insurance Association (KHIA), which was a non-profit legal
entity established in 1992 and effective in 1993 to serve as a
third-party administrator for and to provide basic health
insurance coverage to Kansans who were unable to obtain
coverage in the private market or obtain coverage due to a
pre-existing medical condition. The representative noted
individuals were no longer eligible for the insurance coverage
offered by the KHIA because of the guaranteed issue
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
requirement for the individual market under the federal
Affordable Care Act. The KHIA statutes remained for a five-
year period beginning January 1, 2014, due to a requirement
that KHIA policies include a provision that stated no legal
action could be brought after the expiration of five years. The
KHIA officially closed on December 28, 2018, and the
remaining moneys were returned to the health insurance
companies that had paid the last assessment based on the
same market share percentage.
No neutral or opponent testimony was provided.
The Senate Committee recommended the bill be placed
on the Consent Calendar.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget, the Department indicated enactment of the bill
would result in a negligible reduction in expenditures due to
decreased workload for employees who perform financial
oversight functions for the KHIA. Any fiscal effect associated
with enactment of the bill is not reflected in The FY 2020
Governor’s Budget Report.


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 40-2118, 40-2120, 40-2122, 40-2123, 40-2124, 40-2127, 40-3232, 40-2117, 40-2119, 40-2121, 40-2125, 40-2126, 40-2129, 40-2130, 40-2131